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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: ground · degree · drill · nail · squash · leaves · straw · wind

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wind — moving air
  3. drill — the tool
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. ground — crushed
  7. squash — the sport
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. degree — temperature
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wind — moving air
  14. drill — army training
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. squash — to crush
  21. degree — from a university
  22. drill — a practice
  23. ground — a position
  24. nail — for a hammer

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