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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: pop · rest · race · bass · degree · chip · fork · mine

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. fork — in a road
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bass — low music
  5. mine — for digging
  6. race — a contest
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pop — to visit
  9. degree — temperature
  10. chip — for betting
  11. bass — the fish
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. chip — to eat
  16. pop — music
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. pop — soda
  24. race — the arms race

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