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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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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 · chip · bat · bound · degree · land · race · straw

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. track — a song
  5. race — a contest
  6. bat — the animal
  7. track — a path
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bound — certain
  10. land — to come down
  11. race — the arms race
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chip — to eat
  15. track — to keep track
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. race — humankind
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bound — tied together
  22. bound — obliged
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. degree — temperature

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