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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: land · hide · straw · bore · fan · spring · content · field

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. spring — a coil
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — happy
  6. bore — to tire
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. land — a country
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. content — the amount
  14. bore — to drill
  15. spring — of water
  16. field — farmland
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — the season
  19. field — a subject
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. field — for sport
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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