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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: clip · bank · chip · bay · kid · field · game · degree

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. field — for sport
  6. bank — for money
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chip — for betting
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. field — farmland
  14. degree — temperature
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — of a river
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. degree — an amount
  23. field — a subject
  24. game — a match

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