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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: wind · track · degree · rock · patient · hide · deal · trunk

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — from a university
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a song
  10. deal — to handle
  11. rock — music
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. rock — a stone
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wind — moving air

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