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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 124 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: kid · field · saw · ground · ball · hide · spring · wound

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. saw — the tool
  3. kid — to tease
  4. saw — the tool
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. field — farmland
  8. spring — of water
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. spring — the season
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. field — a subject
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a dance
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. spring — a coil
  23. kid — child
  24. field — for sport

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