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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: degree · lash · hide · cold · ruler · wind

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wind — moving air
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. degree — temperature
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. cold — not warm
  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