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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 · bank · net · root · bowl · wake · game · nail

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bank — for money
  7. bank — for money
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. net — for catching
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. land — to come down
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. net — in sport
  15. bank — of a river
  16. root — the cause
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. net — after costs
  19. game — a match
  20. wake — a trail
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — of a plant
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. game — wild animals

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