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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: wind · bat · chip · kid · rock · object · land · net

  1. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. land — ground
  3. kid — to tease
  4. land — a country
  5. land — to come down
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chip — for betting
  11. net — after costs
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. net — in sport
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. object — a thing
  16. bat — the animal
  17. object — to protest
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. object — an aim
  22. rock — music
  23. net — for catching
  24. kid — child

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