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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: coach · mine · saw · vault · chip · branch · degree · game

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. game — a match
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. saw — the tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. branch — a division
  8. degree — temperature
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. vault — a safe
  11. saw — the tool
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. degree — from a university
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. mine — for digging
  20. chip — to eat
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. game — wild animals

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