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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.

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: march · spring · nail · wound · net · cell · fork · land

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. net — for catching
  5. spring — of water
  6. land — to come down
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. net — in sport
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. spring — the season
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. spring — a coil
  15. land — a country
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. march — music
  18. net — after costs
  19. fork — in a road
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. land — ground
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — a phone
  24. wound — an injury

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