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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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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: degree · present · game · race · rest · shower

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rest — what's left
  3. present — a gift
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. degree — an amount
  6. present — the time now
  7. degree — temperature
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. shower — to wash
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — a contest
  13. rest — what's left
  14. race — the arms race
  15. shower — rain
  16. present — there
  17. rest — a break
  18. game — a kind of play

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