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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. degree — temperature
  3. net — after costs
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fall — to drop
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. net — in sport
  12. band — a music group
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. bass — low music
  15. fall — to drop
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bass — the fish
  18. degree — from a university
  19. band — a ring
  20. shower — rain
  21. fall — the season
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. degree — an amount
  24. rush — hurry

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