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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 · rest · wake · spring · cap · roll · chip

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. cap — of ice
  3. wake — a trail
  4. chip — for betting
  5. roll — a cake
  6. rest — what's left
  7. roll — a list
  8. cap — a hat
  9. rest — a break
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. cap — a lid
  14. spring — of water
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. swing — music
  18. spring — the season
  19. land — to come down
  20. chip — to eat
  21. swing — in golf
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. land — a country
  24. swing — to play on

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