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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: field · cell · wind · saw · ground · hand · spring · wake

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. cell — a phone
  3. spring — the season
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. spring — a coil
  7. field — farmland
  8. cell — in biology
  9. spring — of water
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. saw — the tool
  13. field — for sport
  14. ground — crushed
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ground — the earth
  17. saw — the tool
  18. hand — help
  19. ground — a position
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. field — a subject
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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