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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — from a university
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. spring — of water
  5. degree — temperature
  6. spring — a coil
  7. shower — rain
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. degree — an amount
  11. root — of a word
  12. spring — the season
  13. bank — for money
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. staff — a stick
  19. root — of a plant
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bank — for money
  22. root — the cause
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bank — of a river

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