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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ground · land · object · cap · spell · pitch · kid · mine

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. object — to protest
  4. spell — letters
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. land — ground
  8. ground — crushed
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. cap — a hat
  12. pitch — completely
  13. kid — to tease
  14. spell — a short time
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — of ice
  18. mine — for digging
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. object — an aim
  22. spell — magic
  23. object — a thing
  24. mine — an explosive

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