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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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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: land · snap · pitch · cold · jam · staff · kid · face

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. face — part of the head
  4. kid — child
  5. snap — to click
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. cold — not warm
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. land — ground
  14. staff — employees
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. face — to confront
  17. staff — a stick
  18. staff — employees
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — to tease
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. face — to point toward

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