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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: lean · hand · ground · hide · bore · season · mine · chest

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. season — of the year
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bore — to tire
  11. hand — in cards
  12. chest — a box
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. season — in sport
  15. lean — to bend
  16. ground — a position
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. mine — for digging
  19. lean — thin
  20. bore — to drill
  21. ground — crushed
  22. chest — of your body
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. ground — the earth

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