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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: ruler · wound · content · hand · bore · degree · deal · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bore — to drill
  3. content — happy
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. content — the amount
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. degree — an amount
  9. hand — help
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. degree — from a university
  15. deal — to handle
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bore — to tire
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — an injury
  24. ruler — for measuring

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