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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: degree · wind · hand · mine · saw · wound · ruler · pop

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. hand — help
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — music
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — temperature
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wound — an injury
  18. saw — the tool
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pop — soda
  24. saw — the tool

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