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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. face — part of the head
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. fine — all right
  6. chip — for betting
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chip — to eat
  9. face — to confront
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. mine — for digging
  12. content — happy
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. degree — temperature
  15. content — the amount
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. face — to point toward
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wax — to grow
  21. game — a match
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. fine — high quality
  24. chip — in a computer

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