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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · lie · hide · file · land · current · wind · ground

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. current — electric
  4. wind — moving air
  5. file — a line of people
  6. ground — crushed
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. ground — the earth
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. file — a document
  14. lie — to recline
  15. file — a tool
  16. current — happening now
  17. degree — an amount
  18. current — of water
  19. ground — a position
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. land — a country
  24. land — ground

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