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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: prune · spell · capital · land · nail · spring · drill · court

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  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. nail — for a hammer
  3. spring — of water
  4. drill — army training
  5. spell — magic
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. spell — letters
  9. capital — money
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. spring — a coil
  12. prune — to trim
  13. drill — the tool
  14. court — of a king
  15. capital — a city
  16. court — for sport
  17. spell — a short time
  18. land — ground
  19. prune — to trim
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. court — of law
  22. drill — a practice
  23. land — a country
  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