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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. degree — from a university
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. chip — for betting
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bulb — for light
  10. chest — a box
  11. land — ground
  12. land — a country
  13. degree — an amount
  14. net — for catching
  15. chip — to eat
  16. land — to come down
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chest — of your body

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