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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: shower · chair · swing · tube · cell · degree

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. cell — a phone
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — the underground
  5. swing — to play on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. swing — music
  9. shower — rain
  10. degree — from a university
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. degree — temperature
  14. shower — to wash
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cell — in biology
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cell — in a prison

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