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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: kick · chip · pound · temple · clip · ground · land · deal

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. kick — in football
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. ground — crushed
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pound — a weight
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. land — to come down
  13. chip — to eat
  14. land — a country
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. chip — for betting
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. land — ground
  20. ground — the earth
  21. clip — a video
  22. deal — to handle
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. ground — a position

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