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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: straw · field · bore · bowl · tear · march

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. field — farmland
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. tear — from crying
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. field — for sport
  8. bore — to drill
  9. march — the month
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. march — music
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. march — the month
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. tear — from crying
  16. field — a subject
  17. bore — to tire
  18. tear — to rip

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