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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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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: chip · trunk · sharp · stock · degree · pop · cabinet · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  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. land — a country
  2. degree — an amount
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. chip — for betting
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — music
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pop — soda
  13. stock — shares
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. sharp — clever
  16. stock — goods
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. chip — to eat
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. cabinet — ministers
  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