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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 120 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: arm · lash · tear · squash · land · cabinet · wound · degree

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. squash — to crush
  9. tear — to rip
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tear — from crying
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. land — to come down
  17. degree — an amount
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. squash — the sport
  20. land — a country
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. degree — temperature
  24. arm — part of the body

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