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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: chest · kid · scale · deal · bear · bore · wound · mine

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. wound — an injury
  3. scale — in music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bear — the animal
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bore — to tire
  13. chest — a box
  14. bear — the animal
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. mine — for digging
  19. deal — to handle
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bore — to drill

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