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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: wound · tear · ground · plane · bulb · degree · can · hand

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ground — crushed
  4. can — a tin
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wound — an injury
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. can — a tin
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — the earth
  12. plane — a tool
  13. hand — in cards
  14. tear — to rip
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bulb — for light
  21. degree — temperature
  22. tear — from crying
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. hand — help

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