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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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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: wind · coach · chip · degree · stick · firm · cabinet · game

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. wind — moving air
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chip — to eat
  9. game — wild animals
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. game — a match
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. degree — from a university
  17. firm — steady
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. firm — decided
  22. degree — an amount
  23. chip — for betting
  24. firm — a company

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