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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: spring · field · cell · hand · ground · face · pound · plane

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. field — farmland
  3. hand — in cards
  4. face — part of the head
  5. ground — the earth
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. plane — a tool
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ground — a position
  10. spring — of water
  11. field — for sport
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. face — to confront
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. field — a subject
  16. cell — in biology
  17. hand — help
  18. cell — a phone
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. ground — crushed
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pound — a weight
  24. spring — the season

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