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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. shower — rain
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. roll — a list
  5. season — in sport
  6. hand — in cards
  7. club — for golf
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. roll — a cake
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. press — to push
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. club — for dancing
  16. season — of the year
  17. club — a group
  18. hand — help
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — newspapers
  23. shower — to wash
  24. straw — a straw man

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