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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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 — to wash
  2. pop — to visit
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. last — finally
  5. land — to come down
  6. last — final
  7. pop — music
  8. cue — for pool
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. bank — for money
  12. pop — soda
  13. cue — a hint
  14. bank — of a river
  15. cue — a signal
  16. last — to go on
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. land — a country
  20. shower — rain
  21. land — ground
  22. bank — for money
  23. degree — from a university
  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