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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: staff · mine · land · spring · swing · snap · game · kick

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. mine — for digging
  3. staff — employees
  4. land — a country
  5. spring — the season
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — in golf
  8. staff — employees
  9. game — wild animals
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. spring — a coil
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — of water
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. swing — music
  17. land — ground
  18. staff — a stick
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — in football
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to click
  23. game — a match
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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