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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: cell · wind · ball · lean · chair · drill · degree · spell

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. spell — a short time
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wind — moving air
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cell — a phone
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spell — magic
  11. chair — a leader
  12. ball — a dance
  13. drill — army training
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. lean — thin
  17. degree — an amount
  18. drill — the tool
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cell — in biology
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. lean — to bend
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. spell — letters

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