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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: field · chest · bear · row · wound · bore · net · roll

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. row — a line
  3. field — farmland
  4. bore — to drill
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. net — in sport
  8. roll — a list
  9. roll — a cake
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. net — after costs
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. net — for catching
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. bear — the animal
  19. field — a subject
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. field — for sport
  24. row — to paddle

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