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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: tear · shower · pound · degree · rule · band · cabinet · stock

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. rule — government
  5. shower — to wash
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stock — goods
  8. band — a ring
  9. stock — shares
  10. tear — to rip
  11. degree — from a university
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. rule — a law
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pound — a weight
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. degree — an amount

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