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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: chip · straw · bore · hide · land · band · degree · root

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  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. land — a country
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bore — to drill
  5. chip — for betting
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. root — of a word
  8. band — a ring
  9. degree — temperature
  10. land — ground
  11. root — the cause
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. land — to come down
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. root — of a plant
  16. bore — to tire
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. degree — an amount
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. degree — from a university
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. chip — in a computer
  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