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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 116 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: ball · sharp · can · degree · wind · bore · spell · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. wind — moving air
  4. can — to be able to
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spell — magic
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. bore — to drill
  9. sharp — clever
  10. spell — a short time
  11. degree — temperature
  12. spell — letters
  13. can — a tin
  14. last — finally
  15. can — a tin
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. ball — a great time
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — from a university
  21. ball — a dance
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bore — to tire

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