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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: wind · rest · degree · chair · lash · mark

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rest — what's left
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mark — a trace
  10. rest — a break
  11. mark — a grade
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a leader
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. degree — an amount
  18. lash — an eyelash

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