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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · fork · spring · capital · clip · pass · hide · stock

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. capital — a city
  7. stock — shares
  8. clip — to cut
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. land — a country
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. clip — for paper
  15. spring — of water
  16. stock — goods
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. fork — in a road
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. spring — the season
  24. pass — a permit

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