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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chip · degree · kid · object · drill · racket

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. drill — a practice
  4. object — to protest
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. object — a thing
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. kid — child
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. drill — the tool
  12. chip — to eat
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. object — an aim
  15. drill — army training
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chip — for betting

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