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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. chip — to eat
  4. hand — in cards
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. scale — size or range
  9. spring — a coil
  10. degree — temperature
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. scale — in music
  13. degree — from a university
  14. spring — of water
  15. chip — for betting
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. spring — the season
  18. degree — an amount
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. hand — help
  24. scale — for weighing

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