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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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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: lean · wound · pitch · wind · ball · rule · degree · root

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. ball — a great time
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. root — of a word
  9. lean — to bend
  10. rule — a law
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rule — government
  13. degree — from a university
  14. root — the cause
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. root — of a plant
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — temperature
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. ball — a dance
  21. degree — an amount
  22. lean — thin
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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