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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. shower — rain
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — of ice
  18. shower — to wash
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. calf — of the leg

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