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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: mark · net · degree · date · game · trunk · pop · object

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. pop — soda
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. game — a match
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mark — a trace
  9. pop — to visit
  10. mark — a grade
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. net — in sport
  13. object — an aim
  14. net — after costs
  15. date — the fruit
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. net — for catching
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. degree — an amount
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pop — music
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. degree — temperature

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