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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: rule · staff · pass · degree · mouse · wind

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. staff — employees
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. rule — a law
  7. rule — government
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. staff — a stick
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pass — a permit
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. staff — employees

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