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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: saw · chip · degree · track · band · bear · game · pop

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. band — a music group
  4. bear — the animal
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. track — to keep track
  7. chip — to eat
  8. pop — music
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. game — a match
  12. bear — the animal
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pop — soda
  15. track — a path
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. degree — temperature
  19. band — a ring
  20. game — wild animals
  21. track — a song
  22. chip — for betting
  23. pop — to visit
  24. degree — from a university

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