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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: ground · spring · land · cold · bore · rule · cap · club

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. cap — a hat
  4. club — for dancing
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bore — to drill
  8. cap — a lid
  9. spring — the season
  10. bore — to tire
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. club — for golf
  15. ground — crushed
  16. rule — government
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rule — a law
  21. land — ground
  22. cold — an illness
  23. club — a group
  24. rule — to rule out

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