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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 · bowl · cell · shower · straw · club

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. degree — temperature
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. shower — to wash
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — for dancing
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. shower — rain
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. club — a group
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cell — a phone
  18. straw — dry grass

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