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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: board · tear · shower · degree · scale · chest

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. shower — to wash
  3. degree — temperature
  4. scale — in music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. tear — to rip
  8. degree — an amount
  9. chest — of your body
  10. board — to get on
  11. shower — rain
  12. degree — from a university
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. chest — a box
  15. tear — from crying
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. board — a committee
  18. scale — size or range

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