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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. rash — on the skin
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chip — to eat
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. degree — an amount
  6. scale — in music
  7. ground — the earth
  8. rash — hasty
  9. ground — a position
  10. row — a line
  11. scale — size or range
  12. mark — a trace
  13. ground — crushed
  14. rash — a series
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — from a university
  18. game — a match
  19. chip — for betting
  20. game — wild animals
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. mark — a grade
  23. row — to paddle
  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