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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: hand · jam · spell · bore · bear · capital · mine · cold

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. capital — money
  13. spell — letters
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. spell — magic
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — to drill
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a city
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. bear — the animal
  24. hand — help

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