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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: shower · court · nail · saw · mug · rash · fall · degree

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. shower — rain
  3. fall — to drop
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. mug — a cup
  7. mug — to rob
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. saw — the tool
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fall — to drop
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. mug — a face
  16. rash — a series
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — from a university
  19. fall — the season
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. court — of a king
  22. shower — to wash
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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