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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: firm · chest · wind · kick · cap · hand · game · land

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. game — a match
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cap — a lid
  6. game — wild animals
  7. firm — decided
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. kick — in football
  10. land — to come down
  11. firm — a company
  12. hand — help
  13. chest — of your body
  14. land — a country
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. land — ground
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. firm — steady
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. chest — a box
  21. cap — a hat
  22. chest — of your body
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. wind — moving air

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