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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 · bat · pop · band · kid · ground · kick · game

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pop — music
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pop — soda
  6. band — a ring
  7. game — a match
  8. pop — to visit
  9. staff — a stick
  10. band — a music group
  11. game — wild animals
  12. ground — the earth
  13. staff — employees
  14. kick — in football
  15. staff — employees
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. ground — crushed
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ground — a position

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