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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. perch — the fish
  3. shower — to wash
  4. fine — high quality
  5. rule — a law
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rule — government
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. shower — rain
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. branch — a division
  24. date — the fruit

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