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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: suit · chip · prune · rule · degree · straw · band · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. rule — a law
  4. band — a music group
  5. rule — government
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — an amount
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. suit — in cards
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. chip — for betting
  15. suit — clothes
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. band — a ring
  19. degree — from a university
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. chip — to eat
  22. hand — in cards
  23. degree — temperature
  24. suit — to fit

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