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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: rock · mine · bat · bound · capital · degree · deal · chip

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chip — for betting
  5. capital — a city
  6. degree — temperature
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chip — to eat
  14. deal — to handle
  15. degree — from a university
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bound — certain
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. capital — money
  20. rock — a stone
  21. mine — for digging
  22. rock — music
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bound — obliged

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