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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: kid · pop · land · staff · wound · pass · pitcher · object

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. staff — a stick
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. object — to protest
  5. staff — employees
  6. pop — to visit
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. object — a thing
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. object — an aim
  12. land — a country
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. land — ground
  15. kid — to tease
  16. land — to come down
  17. pop — soda
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. pop — music
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pass — a permit
  24. staff — employees

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