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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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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 · wind · row · lash · pit · degree · firm · rest

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. firm — a company
  5. rest — what's left
  6. firm — steady
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. degree — an amount
  9. pit — in a race
  10. rest — a break
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. row — a line
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rest — what's left
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. pit — a hole
  23. ground — the earth
  24. row — to paddle

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