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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: stock · land · march · capital · spring · mouse · ruler · wound

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. march — the month
  3. land — a country
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. spring — a coil
  6. wound — an injury
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. stock — goods
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. march — the month
  13. stock — shares
  14. capital — a city
  15. land — to come down
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. spring — of water
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. march — music
  20. wound — an injury
  21. capital — money
  22. land — ground
  23. spring — the season
  24. ruler — for measuring

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