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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. shower — to wash
  3. degree — temperature
  4. file — a document
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. degree — an amount
  7. perch — the fish
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stem — to come from
  15. plane — a tool
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wind — moving air
  20. branch — a division
  21. file — a tool
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. degree — from a university
  24. branch — of a tree

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