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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: bowl · pop · prune · mine · bat · mug · chip · degree

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. degree — temperature
  3. bat — the animal
  4. mug — to rob
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mug — a cup
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mine — for digging
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pop — to visit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chip — for betting
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. mug — a face
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pop — music
  23. degree — an amount
  24. chip — to eat

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