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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: tear · degree · current · hide · wound · pound · ground · lash

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wound — an injury
  4. current — electric
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. ground — a position
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. current — of water
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — from a university
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. ground — the earth
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. ground — crushed
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. pound — a weight

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