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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: pit · deal · last · roll · land · wind · band · pitcher

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. last — final
  7. wind — moving air
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a cake
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. roll — a list
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. last — to go on
  17. pit — a hole
  18. band — a ring
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. land — to come down
  23. last — finally
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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