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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: land · swing · can · spring · key · ground · wave · court

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. land — ground
  3. ground — a position
  4. court — of law
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. ground — the earth
  7. spring — the season
  8. key — in music
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. land — to come down
  11. spring — of water
  12. court — for sport
  13. can — to be able to
  14. can — a tin
  15. swing — to play on
  16. key — the most important part
  17. swing — in golf
  18. spring — a coil
  19. swing — music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. ground — crushed
  22. land — a country
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. court — of a king

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