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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. bat — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. pop — music
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chip — for betting
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chip — to eat
  16. wind — moving air
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. pop — soda
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — completely
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wind — to turn a key

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