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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 · can · plane · trunk · land · swing · pound · bore

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. swing — to play on
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. can — to be able to
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. can — a tin
  7. can — a tin
  8. swing — music
  9. land — a country
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. spring — the season
  13. swing — in golf
  14. spring — of water
  15. bore — to drill
  16. spring — a coil
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. land — ground
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. land — to come down
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. plane — a tool

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