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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: craft · field · bore · court · bound · mate · wind · spring

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. mate — to breed
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. bound — certain
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — the season
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bound — obliged
  10. court — of law
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bore — to tire
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. court — of a king
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. court — for sport
  18. wind — moving air
  19. craft — a skill
  20. mate — a friend
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. bore — to drill
  24. field — for sport

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