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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: kick · staff · patient · pop · land · pitch · mine · last

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. land — a country
  6. mine — for digging
  7. kick — in football
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pop — music
  10. staff — employees
  11. land — to come down
  12. last — final
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pop — soda
  15. last — to go on
  16. staff — a stick
  17. staff — employees
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pitch — completely
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. last — finally
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pitch — a sports field

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