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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · hand · march · ruler · wound · degree · sharp · cell

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. sharp — clever
  3. march — the month
  4. wound — an injury
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. hand — help
  7. cell — a phone
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. march — music
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wound — an injury
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. march — the month
  24. hand — in cards

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