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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: pop · shower · roll · straw · mug · degree · land · key

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mug — to rob
  3. roll — a list
  4. degree — from a university
  5. key — for a lock
  6. pop — music
  7. degree — temperature
  8. mug — a cup
  9. pop — to visit
  10. land — a country
  11. key — in music
  12. degree — an amount
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. land — to come down
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. mug — a face
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. roll — a cake
  22. land — ground
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. key — the most important part

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