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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. track — a path
  3. chip — for betting
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — money
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bark — to shout
  10. file — a document
  11. degree — an amount
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a song
  14. capital — a city
  15. ground — a position
  16. degree — from a university
  17. club — for golf
  18. file — a line of people
  19. ground — the earth
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. file — a tool
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. club — for dancing

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