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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: shower · cell · rest · bay · degree · bulb

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. cell — in biology
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. rest — what's left
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. bay — a part of the sea

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