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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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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: fork · chair · degree · hand · wave · bat · jam · chip

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chip — for betting
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. fork — in a road
  19. chip — to eat
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. fork — to eat with

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