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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: deal · degree · last · ball · wind · foot

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. last — to go on
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ball — a great time
  6. foot — a measure
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. deal — to handle
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wind — moving air
  12. last — final
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. last — finally
  15. ball — a dance
  16. degree — from a university
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. wind — moving air

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