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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wind · plane · mine · hand · club · degree · bass · kick

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. wind — moving air
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. kick — in football
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. club — for golf
  10. bass — low music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. degree — from a university
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — in cards
  15. club — for dancing
  16. club — a group
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. hand — help
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bass — the fish
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. plane — a tool
  24. kick — with a leg

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