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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · spring · ball · patient · march · file · stand · ground

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. ball — a great time
  3. file — a line of people
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. ball — a dance
  7. spring — the season
  8. ground — the earth
  9. spring — of water
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. march — the month
  12. file — a document
  13. march — the month
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. march — music
  17. stand — to bear
  18. file — a tool
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. patient — calm and waiting

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com