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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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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: staff · row · ground · degree · wind · mark · tear · firm

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. mark — a trace
  3. staff — employees
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — the earth
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. staff — a stick
  11. row — to paddle
  12. ground — crushed
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. degree — from a university
  17. firm — steady
  18. staff — employees
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mark — a grade
  22. tear — from crying
  23. firm — decided
  24. tear — to rip

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