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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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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: track · charge · chip · pop · pitcher · cold · degree · clip

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. degree — from a university
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. pop — music
  4. charge — in control
  5. degree — temperature
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cold — an illness
  8. track — a path
  9. clip — for paper
  10. charge — electricity
  11. clip — a video
  12. track — a song
  13. cold — not warm
  14. track — to keep track
  15. charge — a price
  16. chip — for betting
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pop — soda
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. degree — an amount
  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