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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: rock · chest · field · club · roll · spring · drill · mine

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. field — a subject
  3. club — for dancing
  4. roll — a list
  5. drill — the tool
  6. field — farmland
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. club — for golf
  13. rock — a stone
  14. chest — of your body
  15. drill — a practice
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. rock — music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. field — for sport
  22. roll — a cake
  23. club — a group
  24. drill — army training

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