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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.

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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: nail · wake · spring · root · cold · mark · ruler · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. spring — of water
  5. mark — a grade
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. cold — not warm
  10. root — of a plant
  11. root — the cause
  12. wake — a trail
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. spring — a coil
  19. root — of a word
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mark — a trace
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. spring — the season

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