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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 120 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: fan · wound · arm · race · patient · lash · saw · degree

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. race — the arms race
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. degree — temperature
  11. race — humankind
  12. wound — an injury
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. race — a contest
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wound — an injury
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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