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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. degree — an amount
  7. chip — for betting
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. degree — from a university
  10. chair — a leader
  11. cue — a signal
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cell — a phone
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cell — in biology
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — the cause
  21. wax — to grow
  22. chip — to eat
  23. root — of a plant
  24. game — wild animals

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