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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: land · roll · swing · cap · face · trunk · ground · stock

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — to come down
  3. roll — a cake
  4. ground — the earth
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. land — ground
  7. face — part of the head
  8. ground — crushed
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. face — to point toward
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. face — to confront
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. stock — shares
  17. cap — a lid
  18. ground — a position
  19. stock — goods
  20. roll — a list
  21. swing — music
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cap — a hat

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