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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. kid — to tease
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. degree — temperature
  5. stock — shares
  6. present — there
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. chip — to eat
  9. shower — to wash
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. stock — goods
  13. kid — child
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. chip — for betting
  16. squash — the sport
  17. fork — in a road
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. degree — from a university
  20. squash — to crush
  21. degree — an amount
  22. present — a gift
  23. present — the time now
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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