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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 · present · scale · last · pitcher · row · degree · lash

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. shower — rain
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. scale — size or range
  6. last — to go on
  7. scale — in music
  8. degree — from a university
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. last — final
  12. present — the time now
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. present — a gift
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. present — there
  19. shower — to wash
  20. row — a line
  21. row — to paddle
  22. last — finally
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. degree — temperature

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