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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
468
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: file · roll · mine · chest · land · pound · foot · bore

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. chest — a box
  8. pound — a weight
  9. mine — for digging
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a tool
  12. roll — a cake
  13. land — ground
  14. file — a line of people
  15. chest — of your body
  16. roll — a list
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. bore — to drill
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. land — to come down
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. land — a country
  24. mine — an explosive

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