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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: wake · net · deal · bound · spring · land · drill · court

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — of water
  3. drill — a practice
  4. land — to come down
  5. court — for sport
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. land — ground
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — obliged
  13. net — in sport
  14. spring — the season
  15. drill — the tool
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. land — a country
  18. bound — certain
  19. net — for catching
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. net — after costs
  23. deal — to handle
  24. drill — army training

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