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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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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: chair · shower · snap · wound · saw · lie · degree · bank

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. bank — for money
  3. chair — a leader
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. bank — for money
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. lie — to recline
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. snap — to click
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. wound — an injury
  23. degree — from a university
  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