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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. charge — a price
  3. rush — hurry
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. chip — to eat
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. squash — the sport
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. charge — in control
  11. squash — to crush
  12. charge — electricity
  13. chip — for betting
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — soda
  22. game — a match
  23. bat — the animal
  24. game — wild animals

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