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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 120 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: cell · row · degree · chip · rule · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. chip — to eat
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. wound — an injury
  6. row — to paddle
  7. rule — a law
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cell — in biology
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wound — an injury
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rule — government
  15. row — a line
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. cell — a phone

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