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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 116 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: pit · chip · degree · pitcher · drill · game · spring · craft

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. pit — a hole
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. game — a match
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. game — wild animals
  8. drill — a practice
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. pit — in a race
  11. chip — to eat
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. degree — an amount
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. craft — boats
  16. craft — a skill
  17. drill — the tool
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spring — a coil
  20. drill — army training
  21. spring — of water
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. spring — the season
  24. degree — from a university

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