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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: file · pound · jam · bat · degree · chip · club · spring

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pound — a weight
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spring — the season
  6. degree — an amount
  7. spring — a coil
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. club — for golf
  11. spring — of water
  12. degree — temperature
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. file — a tool
  15. bat — the animal
  16. file — a document
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. club — for dancing
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — to eat
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. club — a group

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