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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: degree · cell · wound · bore · bowl · scale · kid · rash

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bore — to drill
  5. rash — hasty
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bore — to tire
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rash — a series
  12. degree — temperature
  13. scale — in music
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — child
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. scale — size or range
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. cell — a phone

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