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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 116 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 · chip · kick · staff · pop · wind · clip · object

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chip — to eat
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. object — to protest
  5. staff — a stick
  6. object — a thing
  7. pop — to visit
  8. object — an aim
  9. kick — in football
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — a video
  12. pop — music
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. staff — employees
  16. land — ground
  17. chip — for betting
  18. wind — moving air
  19. land — a country
  20. staff — employees
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. pop — soda
  23. land — to come down
  24. kick — with a leg

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