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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 · pitcher · stock · wake · plane · cold · degree · temple

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. stock — shares
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. plane — a tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wake — a trail
  12. degree — from a university
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wound — an injury
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. stock — goods
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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