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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. pitch — a sports field
  3. cell — a phone
  4. can — to be able to
  5. shower — to wash
  6. can — a tin
  7. pop — soda
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. pitch — completely
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. degree — an amount
  17. capital — a city
  18. can — a tin
  19. cell — in biology
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. capital — money
  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