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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. degree — from a university
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. race — the arms race
  6. stock — shares
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stock — goods
  10. chip — for betting
  11. race — humankind
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — to grow
  17. fork — in a road
  18. race — a contest
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. dip — to sink
  24. wax — for sculpting

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