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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. land — to come down
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. game — a match
  6. hand — in cards
  7. degree — temperature
  8. hand — help
  9. game — wild animals
  10. mug — a face
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. land — ground
  15. squash — the sport
  16. land — a country
  17. chip — to eat
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mug — to rob
  20. chip — for betting
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — for light
  23. squash — to crush
  24. bulb — of a plant

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