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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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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 tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. chip — to eat
  7. court — for sport
  8. hand — help
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. chip — for betting
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. spring — a coil
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. court — of a king
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. degree — from a university
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. shower — to wash
  20. court — of law
  21. hand — in cards
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. pass — a permit

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