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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.

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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: chip · row · press · land · kick · pitcher · hand · wind

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. press — a publisher
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. hand — help
  8. wind — moving air
  9. press — newspapers
  10. land — to come down
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chip — for betting
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chip — to eat
  17. row — a line
  18. land — ground
  19. press — to push
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. row — to paddle
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. kick — in football
  24. row — a quarrel

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