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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 120 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: chest · mine · bore · lean · cell · bowl · key · field

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  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. mine — an explosive
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mine — for digging
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. key — in music
  9. cell — in biology
  10. field — a subject
  11. bore — to drill
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. key — the most important part
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. lean — to bend
  17. chest — of your body
  18. key — for a lock
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. lean — thin
  23. bowl — a dish
  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