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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. degree — an amount
  6. scale — in music
  7. last — to go on
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. scale — size or range
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. last — finally
  12. net — in sport
  13. date — the fruit
  14. last — final
  15. net — for catching
  16. chip — for betting
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. degree — from a university
  19. net — after costs
  20. foot — a measure
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. degree — temperature
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. chip — to eat

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