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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: hand · tube · squash · scale · rest · stand · wind · degree

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. rest — a break
  3. scale — size or range
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. hand — help
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — to crush
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. rest — what's left
  10. hand — in cards
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rest — what's left
  13. wind — moving air
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wind — moving air
  16. degree — an amount
  17. tube — the underground
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. squash — the sport
  22. scale — in music
  23. stand — to bear
  24. tube — a container

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