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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 · race · degree · field · hand · bore · mug · bowl

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. field — a subject
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mug — a cup
  6. race — humankind
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chest — a box
  9. race — a contest
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. mug — to rob
  14. chest — of your body
  15. degree — an amount
  16. race — the arms race
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mug — a face
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. hand — help
  22. field — for sport
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bore — to tire

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