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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: net · degree · hand · roll · pass · shower · kick · tear

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. net — for catching
  3. degree — from a university
  4. tear — from crying
  5. shower — to wash
  6. hand — help
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. tear — to rip
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a list
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pass — a permit
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. degree — an amount
  18. net — in sport
  19. kick — in football
  20. roll — a cake
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. net — after costs

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