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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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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: fall · court · nail · pop · land · stem · cap · drill

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. court — of a king
  4. fall — the season
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cap — of ice
  7. land — a country
  8. drill — army training
  9. fall — to drop
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. drill — a practice
  12. land — ground
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pop — soda
  16. drill — the tool
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — music
  19. land — to come down
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. court — for sport
  22. stem — to come from
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. court — of law

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