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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: fall · ground · roll · deal · mug · degree · squash · shower

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mug — a face
  4. squash — the sport
  5. fall — the season
  6. mug — to rob
  7. degree — temperature
  8. fall — to drop
  9. shower — rain
  10. mug — a cup
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. fall — to drop
  13. shower — to wash
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. roll — a cake
  16. ground — crushed
  17. squash — to crush
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. deal — to handle
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — a position
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. degree — from a university

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