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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chip — for betting
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chip — to eat
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tear — from crying
  10. squash — the sport
  11. degree — from a university
  12. net — for catching
  13. spring — of water
  14. scale — size or range
  15. squash — to crush
  16. net — after costs
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spring — the season
  21. kick — in football
  22. degree — an amount
  23. net — in sport
  24. tear — to rip

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