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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: vault · nail · land · march · object · capital · spring · bat

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — the animal
  5. spring — of water
  6. land — a country
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — an aim
  10. capital — money
  11. land — ground
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. vault — a safe
  14. object — a thing
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. capital — a city
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. land — to come down

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