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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · board · prune · cell · key · track · straw

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. degree — from a university
  5. track — to keep track
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. track — a path
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. key — the most important part
  11. degree — temperature
  12. track — a song
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. board — a committee
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. board — to get on
  23. cell — in biology
  24. key — for a lock

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