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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. degree — an amount
  4. court — for sport
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chip — for betting
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. file — a line of people
  10. present — there
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. present — the time now
  14. court — of a king
  15. degree — temperature
  16. squash — the sport
  17. file — a tool
  18. squash — to crush
  19. file — a document
  20. court — of law
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. present — a gift
  23. sharp — clever
  24. trunk — of a tree

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