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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: season · chip · land · ground · spell · snap · pitch · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. pitch — completely
  3. season — of the year
  4. ground — the earth
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — in sport
  8. spell — magic
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — crushed
  12. chip — to eat
  13. land — a country
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to click
  16. land — ground
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — for betting
  19. spell — a short time
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spell — letters
  22. land — to come down
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. mine — for digging

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