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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: wound · present · nail · snap · racket · club · land · spring

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. land — ground
  3. wound — an injury
  4. present — there
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. present — a gift
  7. club — a group
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. land — to come down
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — for golf
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. present — the time now
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — the season
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. land — a country
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. spring — of water
  24. nail — for a hammer

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