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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 120 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: shower · degree · straw · fork · fine · hide · root · club

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. degree — an amount
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. shower — rain
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. root — of a plant
  8. shower — to wash
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. fine — all right
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. club — for dancing
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. root — of a word
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fine — high quality
  18. root — the cause
  19. club — a group
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. fork — in a road

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