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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: capital · stock · swing · face · pop · land · nail · roll

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pop — to visit
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. stock — goods
  5. land — a country
  6. roll — a list
  7. stock — shares
  8. swing — to play on
  9. face — to point toward
  10. land — to come down
  11. swing — in golf
  12. face — to confront
  13. capital — a city
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. face — part of the head
  16. pop — music
  17. land — ground
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. swing — music
  23. roll — a cake
  24. capital — money

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