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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: perch · swing · mine · bore · field · hand · cold · safe

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. field — farmland
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bore — to drill
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. swing — music
  11. hand — help
  12. swing — in golf
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. mine — for digging
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. hand — in cards
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — an illness
  21. field — a subject
  22. bore — to tire
  23. field — for sport
  24. cold — not warm

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