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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: club · nail · dip · game · spring · land · last · perch

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. spring — of water
  4. perch — the fish
  5. land — ground
  6. last — finally
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. land — to come down
  10. last — final
  11. spring — a coil
  12. club — for golf
  13. game — wild animals
  14. spring — the season
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. dip — to sink
  17. land — a country
  18. game — a match
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. last — to go on
  24. game — a kind of play

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