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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. degree — an amount
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. last — to go on
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. kid — child
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. chip — for betting
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bear — the animal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bear — the animal
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. last — final
  21. kid — to tease
  22. last — finally
  23. chip — to eat
  24. pitcher — a jug

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