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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: chest · degree · wind · net · lash · chip · spell · mate

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. net — for catching
  3. mate — a partner
  4. net — in sport
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chip — to eat
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. chest — a box
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — an amount
  13. net — after costs
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wind — moving air
  16. spell — a short time
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. degree — from a university
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. mate — to breed
  24. spell — magic

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