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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wound · row · straw · bulb · land · arm · leaves · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wound — an injury
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. row — to paddle
  9. land — a country
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — for light
  16. land — to come down
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. land — ground
  22. row — a line
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wound — an injury

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