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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: snap · degree · chip · tear · hand · prune · deal · pop

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. pop — soda
  3. prune — to trim
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. degree — from a university
  6. hand — in cards
  7. degree — temperature
  8. deal — to handle
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. tear — from crying
  13. prune — to trim
  14. degree — an amount
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. pop — to visit
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. hand — help
  19. snap — to click
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — to eat

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