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

Word bank: straw · wind · wound · mark · degree · nail

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wound — an injury
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. degree — temperature
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. wound — an injury
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mark — a grade
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. degree — from a university
  18. mark — a trace

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