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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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468
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: swing · game · degree · pop · mug · roll · chip · net

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mug — to rob
  4. pop — soda
  5. net — in sport
  6. chip — for betting
  7. game — a match
  8. mug — a cup
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. chip — to eat
  12. swing — music
  13. pop — to visit
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. swing — to play on
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — an amount
  20. swing — in golf
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. mug — a face
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pop — music

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