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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: degree · march · chip · trunk · race · chest

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chest — of your body
  3. race — the arms race
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. chip — to eat
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chest — a box
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. march — the month
  11. chest — of your body
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — humankind
  14. degree — an amount
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. trunk — of an elephant

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