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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 · chest · track · mouse · sharp · lash · rule · degree

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. rule — government
  4. sharp — clever
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. chest — of your body
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. degree — temperature
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. chest — of your body
  15. degree — an amount
  16. chest — a box
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. track — to keep track
  19. track — a song
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. track — a path
  23. rule — a law
  24. degree — from a university

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