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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. bark — to shout
  4. field — a subject
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. capital — a city
  7. chip — for betting
  8. field — for sport
  9. mark — a grade
  10. degree — an amount
  11. shower — rain
  12. degree — temperature
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. band — a music group
  16. degree — from a university
  17. field — farmland
  18. capital — money
  19. band — a ring
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bark — of a tree

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