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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pound — a weight
  5. court — of a king
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chip — to eat
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — a contest
  12. wound — an injury
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. court — of law
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. degree — an amount
  22. field — for sport
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. court — for sport

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