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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. game — a match
  3. bear — the animal
  4. game — wild animals
  5. scale — in music
  6. field — farmland
  7. scale — size or range
  8. field — a subject
  9. clip — to cut
  10. swing — in golf
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. field — for sport
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bore — to drill
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bank — of a river
  17. bank — for money
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bear — the animal
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bank — for money
  22. clip — a video
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — to play on

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