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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: cell · shower · band · staff · saw · coach · current · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cell — a phone
  3. staff — a stick
  4. current — of water
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. shower — rain
  7. saw — the tool
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. band — a music group
  10. shower — to wash
  11. staff — employees
  12. cell — in biology
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. band — a ring
  16. degree — temperature
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. current — electric
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. degree — from a university
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. current — happening now
  24. staff — employees

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