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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wind — moving air
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. degree — from a university
  6. branch — a division
  7. game — wild animals
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — ground
  14. game — a match
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. prune — to trim
  17. degree — an amount
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. degree — temperature
  23. land — a country
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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