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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. spring — the season
  7. bass — the fish
  8. spring — a coil
  9. drill — a practice
  10. club — for dancing
  11. degree — temperature
  12. shower — to wash
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. drill — army training
  15. bass — low music
  16. club — for golf
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. club — a group
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. drill — the tool
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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