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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: land · degree · stand · hand · mate · wound · cabinet · wake

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. land — a country
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. land — to come down
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. mate — a friend
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. degree — an amount
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wake — a trail
  16. degree — from a university
  17. land — ground
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. mate — a partner
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hand — help
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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