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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 120 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: wind · straw · bat · suit · chest · bore · land · bear

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. land — ground
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. suit — in cards
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. chest — a box
  8. wind — moving air
  9. suit — to fit
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bear — the animal
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. land — a country
  16. bear — the animal
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. suit — clothes
  20. bore — to drill
  21. land — to come down
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — a straw man

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