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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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Word bank
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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: bulb · wind · bark · capital · degree · chip

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. degree — temperature
  5. capital — a city
  6. degree — from a university
  7. chip — to eat
  8. bulb — for light
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — money
  11. degree — an amount
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. capital — a big letter

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