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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: net · trunk · spring · chest · field · bore · mug · chair

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spring — a coil
  4. net — after costs
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. mug — to rob
  9. net — in sport
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mug — a face
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. net — for catching
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bore — to drill
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. field — for sport
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. spring — of water
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chest — a box

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