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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — temperature
  3. shower — rain
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. rule — government
  6. kid — child
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — an aim
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — from a university
  13. rule — a law
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. object — a thing
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. branch — a division

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