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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chest — a box
  3. band — a music group
  4. court — of law
  5. degree — from a university
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kid — child
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. pound — a weight
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chest — of your body
  20. deal — to handle
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. band — a ring

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