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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: land · pop · degree · content · pitch · chip · coach · date

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. content — happy
  3. land — ground
  4. pop — music
  5. date — the fruit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. degree — from a university
  8. land — to come down
  9. chip — to eat
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pitch — completely
  12. degree — temperature
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. chip — for betting
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pop — soda
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. content — the amount
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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