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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: fork · wind · safe · wound · degree · mouse · hand · bass

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. hand — help
  6. degree — from a university
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — in a road
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — low music
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. hand — in cards
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bass — the fish

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