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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: roll · row · coach · net · shower · mark · prune · degree

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. degree — an amount
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. mark — a trace
  6. shower — to wash
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. net — for catching
  9. shower — rain
  10. roll — a list
  11. degree — from a university
  12. row — to paddle
  13. net — in sport
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. degree — temperature
  16. roll — a cake
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. net — after costs
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. prune — to trim
  22. mark — a grade
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mark — to pay attention

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