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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: mouse · cabinet · degree · roll · wound · hand · net · last

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — help
  3. net — after costs
  4. last — finally
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. last — to go on
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wound — an injury
  13. roll — a list
  14. net — in sport
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. net — for catching
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. roll — a cake
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. last — final
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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