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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 120 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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. scale — in music
  3. mark — a grade
  4. swing — to play on
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. file — a document
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. chip — for betting
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. degree — from a university
  13. mine — for digging
  14. file — a tool
  15. bark — to shout
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. mark — a trace
  19. swing — music
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — an amount
  22. swing — in golf
  23. scale — size or range
  24. mark — to pay attention

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