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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 · rush · racket · content · spring · degree · row · swing

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. shower — rain
  3. spring — the season
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. degree — temperature
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. spring — a coil
  9. content — the amount
  10. swing — in golf
  11. content — happy
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. row — to paddle
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. shower — to wash
  17. degree — an amount
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. swing — music
  20. degree — from a university
  21. swing — to play on
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rush — hurry
  24. racket — a loud noise

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