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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: degree · prune · club · chip · track · band · game · spell

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. track — a song
  4. spell — letters
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. degree — temperature
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. chip — for betting
  11. spell — magic
  12. club — a group
  13. track — to keep track
  14. band — a music group
  15. prune — to trim
  16. track — a path
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. club — for dancing
  20. degree — from a university
  21. spell — a short time
  22. chip — to eat
  23. club — for golf
  24. degree — an amount

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