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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wake · tear · scale · shower · patient · degree

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. tear — to rip
  5. shower — rain
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wake — a trail
  10. tear — from crying
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. scale — size or range
  18. tear — from crying

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