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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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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 · race · hide · coach · tube · drill · snap · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. chip — to eat
  4. tube — the underground
  5. drill — a practice
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chip — for betting
  8. race — the arms race
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. degree — an amount
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. degree — temperature
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. race — humankind
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. race — a contest
  19. snap — to click
  20. tube — a container
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. hide — to keep secret

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