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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: bore · ground · field · perch · hide · toast · pit · coach

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. toast — bread
  4. ground — a position
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bore — to tire
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. field — for sport
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. ground — crushed
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. ground — the earth
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. field — a subject
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. field — farmland
  18. bore — to drill
  19. pit — a hole
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. pit — in a race
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bore — gave birth

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