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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: drill · degree · object · suit · chest · wind · straw · spell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. drill — army training
  3. object — a thing
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. degree — from a university
  7. spell — letters
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. suit — to fit
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. object — an aim
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. degree — temperature
  15. chest — of your body
  16. suit — in cards
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — magic
  19. object — to protest
  20. chest — of your body
  21. suit — clothes
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chest — a box
  24. wind — moving air

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