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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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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: stem · tear · degree · pitcher · spell · wound · wind · firm

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spell — magic
  3. degree — an amount
  4. firm — a company
  5. wound — an injury
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. firm — decided
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. spell — letters
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. firm — steady
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spell — a short time

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