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

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. scale — in music
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. tear — from crying
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. squash — the sport
  8. chip — to eat
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tear — to rip
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. chip — for betting
  14. scale — size or range
  15. tear — from crying
  16. degree — an amount
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. squash — to crush
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to click
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — the fruit

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