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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — for betting
  5. content — the amount
  6. mate — a partner
  7. bulb — for light
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bat — the animal
  15. chip — to eat
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. mate — a friend
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. land — to come down
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bulb — for light

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