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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: bore · spring · cap · stock · band · land · fall · march

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. stock — shares
  3. cap — a lid
  4. march — the month
  5. fall — to drop
  6. land — a country
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stock — goods
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. march — music
  11. bore — to drill
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. march — the month
  15. band — a music group
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. band — a ring
  18. cap — of ice
  19. spring — of water
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. cap — a hat
  22. fall — the season
  23. bore — to tire
  24. spring — a coil

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