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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 116 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: land · nail · row · degree · wound · deal · straw · court

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wound — an injury
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. degree — temperature
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wound — an injury
  8. land — a country
  9. degree — from a university
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. court — of law
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. deal — to handle
  17. land — to come down
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. court — of a king
  22. land — ground
  23. court — for sport
  24. row — a line

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