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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: game · lean · chip · band · mine · degree · field · root

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. band — a music group
  3. field — a subject
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. field — for sport
  9. game — wild animals
  10. lean — thin
  11. degree — an amount
  12. root — of a plant
  13. mine — for digging
  14. degree — from a university
  15. game — a match
  16. lean — to bend
  17. field — farmland
  18. chip — for betting
  19. root — of a word
  20. degree — temperature
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. root — the cause
  23. band — a ring
  24. mine — an explosive

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