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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: fan · content · bank · squash · degree · rock · shower · pound

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. degree — from a university
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. degree — an amount
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bank — for money
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. rock — music
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. bank — for money
  18. rock — a stone
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. bank — of a river
  23. pound — a weight
  24. degree — temperature

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