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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wound · spring · row · field · kid · file · saw · bore

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. saw — the tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. field — for sport
  5. file — a document
  6. row — to paddle
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spring — of water
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. file — a tool
  11. field — a subject
  12. bore — to tire
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bore — to drill
  15. spring — a coil
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. file — a line of people
  21. field — farmland
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. row — a line
  24. spring — the season

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