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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: land · hide · degree · temple · spell · ground · wind · stick

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  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. hide — animal skin
  2. ground — the earth
  3. spell — letters
  4. ground — a position
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spell — a short time
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. wind — moving air
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. degree — temperature
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. land — a country
  16. wind — moving air
  17. land — to come down
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. land — ground
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. ground — crushed
  23. spell — magic
  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