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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: mine · last · march · wind · degree · pound

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. degree — temperature
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. march — music
  8. last — final
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mine — for digging
  14. march — the month
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. march — the month
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key

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