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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: cabinet · kick · cold · staff · spring · wound · field · cell

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. field — for sport
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. staff — employees
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kick — in football
  9. spring — of water
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spring — a coil
  12. field — a subject
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. spring — the season
  16. cell — a phone
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. staff — a stick
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. cabinet — ministers

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