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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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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: bark · mate · wind · rest · land · wound · degree · pitcher

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mate — to breed
  10. land — a country
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mate — a partner
  13. mate — a friend
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. land — ground
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wound — an injury
  19. land — to come down
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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