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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: sharp · degree · land · wound · staff · lash · kid · firm

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wound — an injury
  3. staff — employees
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. firm — decided
  7. firm — a company
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. sharp — clever
  11. staff — employees
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. land — to come down
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. degree — temperature
  17. staff — a stick
  18. firm — steady
  19. land — a country
  20. kid — to tease
  21. land — ground
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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