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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: roll · bore · capital · chest · spell · ground · field · bound

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. spell — letters
  3. field — for sport
  4. ground — crushed
  5. field — farmland
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bound — certain
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bound — tied together
  10. chest — a box
  11. field — a subject
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a list
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. roll — a cake
  21. bound — obliged
  22. capital — a city
  23. bore — to drill
  24. chest — of your body

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