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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: mine · pit · scale · bore · arm · hand · field · bass

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. scale — in music
  5. bass — the fish
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pit — a hole
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. field — a subject
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bass — low music
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. scale — size or range
  19. hand — help
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. field — for sport
  22. pit — in a race
  23. field — farmland
  24. scale — for weighing

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