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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 116 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. chip — to eat
  3. drill — a practice
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. drill — the tool
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wax — to grow
  12. land — ground
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. degree — an amount
  17. drill — army training
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. land — to come down
  22. degree — from a university
  23. land — a country
  24. chip — for betting

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