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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. rash — a series
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. degree — an amount
  6. content — happy
  7. net — for catching
  8. rash — hasty
  9. net — in sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. shower — to wash
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. spell — magic
  14. degree — from a university
  15. net — after costs
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. degree — temperature
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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