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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — to drill
  4. bank — for money
  5. court — of law
  6. field — a subject
  7. spring — of water
  8. field — for sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. net — for catching
  12. court — for sport
  13. net — in sport
  14. bank — of a river
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. bank — for money
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. court — of a king
  20. spring — the season
  21. field — farmland
  22. spring — a coil
  23. content — happy
  24. content — the amount

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