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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 116 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 · stick · tube · chair · track · land · bulb · hand

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — the underground
  3. land — a country
  4. track — a song
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bulb — for light
  7. track — to keep track
  8. land — ground
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — a leader
  11. hand — help
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. degree — an amount
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. degree — temperature
  18. hand — in cards
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. track — a path
  22. bulb — for light
  23. land — to come down
  24. degree — from a university

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