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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: cold · stick · ball · staff · pitcher · band · game · land

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. band — a ring
  6. land — a country
  7. ball — a great time
  8. staff — a stick
  9. ball — a dance
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — not warm
  13. game — wild animals
  14. land — ground
  15. staff — employees
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. game — a match
  20. cold — an illness
  21. staff — employees
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. game — a kind of play

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