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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: chest · bowl · row · saw · bear · hand · degree · mine

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. hand — in cards
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. mine — for digging
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. row — to paddle
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. degree — from a university
  23. row — a line
  24. hand — help

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