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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 116 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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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 · content · firm · bat · board · club · march · spring

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. march — the month
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. club — for dancing
  7. board — a committee
  8. club — a group
  9. board — to get on
  10. firm — decided
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. firm — steady
  13. firm — a company
  14. march — the month
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. march — music
  18. club — for golf
  19. spring — a coil
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. spring — of water
  23. board — a flat piece
  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