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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: swing · lie · spring · march · cap · land · pop · nail

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. spring — a coil
  3. lie — to recline
  4. land — to come down
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. land — ground
  7. pop — music
  8. march — the month
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cap — of ice
  11. swing — music
  12. march — music
  13. land — a country
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — soda
  17. march — the month
  18. swing — to play on
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. spring — the season
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. spring — of water
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cap — a hat

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