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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: spring · roll · bore · vault · chest · date · fine · field

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bore — to drill
  5. field — for sport
  6. fine — high quality
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. date — the fruit
  11. fine — all right
  12. field — a subject
  13. chest — of your body
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. vault — a safe
  20. spring — of water
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. roll — a list
  23. field — farmland
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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