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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: straw · spring · bore · mark · hand · tube · calf · field

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. mark — a grade
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. spring — of water
  5. hand — help
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. spring — the season
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tube — the underground
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to drill
  16. field — farmland
  17. tube — a container
  18. bore — to tire
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. mark — a trace
  23. hand — in cards
  24. tube — in a 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