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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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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: wind · roll · pitch · tear · chair · bore · bound · bear

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bore — to drill
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bear — the animal
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bound — certain
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. bear — the animal
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bound — obliged
  24. roll — a list

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