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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: wind · rock · court · face · trunk · lash · wound · degree

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — of law
  5. face — to point toward
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — of a king
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rock — a stone
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. face — to confront
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. face — part of the head
  22. court — for sport
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. lash — an eyelash

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