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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: stick · chip · degree · wound · capital · mine · foot · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. degree — temperature
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. capital — money
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chip — for betting
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. foot — a measure
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chip — to eat
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. capital — a city
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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