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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: bass · staff · mine · scale · degree · kid · shower · prune

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. mine — for digging
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bass — low music
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. shower — rain
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. degree — an amount
  13. staff — a stick
  14. shower — to wash
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. staff — employees
  17. scale — size or range
  18. kid — child
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bass — the fish
  21. scale — in music
  22. degree — temperature
  23. prune — to trim
  24. kid — to tease

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