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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: stand · fork · row · land · spring · march · chest · bulb

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. spring — the season
  3. march — the month
  4. row — a line
  5. chest — of your body
  6. stand — to bear
  7. bulb — for light
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. spring — of water
  11. land — a country
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. spring — a coil
  16. land — ground
  17. march — the month
  18. chest — of your body
  19. land — to come down
  20. chest — a box
  21. bulb — for light
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. march — music
  24. fork — in a road

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