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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — from a university
  10. current — of water
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. current — electric
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bank — for money
  15. shower — rain
  16. current — happening now
  17. shower — to wash
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bank — for money
  20. wake — a trail
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. bank — of a river
  24. cold — an illness

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