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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: march · net · swing · land · spring · wave · bear · scale

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. scale — size or range
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. scale — in music
  8. net — for catching
  9. swing — in golf
  10. land — ground
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. net — in sport
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. swing — music
  19. march — the month
  20. bear — the animal
  21. swing — to play on
  22. net — after costs
  23. bear — the animal
  24. march — music

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