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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: band · chair · chest · club · chip · game · degree · field

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. chest — a box
  2. club — for golf
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. chip — to eat
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. field — for sport
  11. chip — for betting
  12. field — a subject
  13. band — a ring
  14. field — farmland
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. game — a match
  17. game — wild animals
  18. club — a group
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. club — for dancing
  23. band — a music group
  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