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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chip — for betting
  4. can — a tin
  5. degree — temperature
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. branch — a division
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chip — to eat
  14. root — the cause
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. degree — from a university
  17. can — a tin
  18. shower — rain
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — of a word
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. shower — to wash

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