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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 · court · staff · band · kick · perch · rush · tube

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — a country
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. perch — the fish
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. band — a music group
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — a container
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — ground
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. court — of law
  16. staff — a stick
  17. rush — hurry
  18. tube — the underground
  19. court — for sport
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. band — a ring
  22. court — of a king
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — in football

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