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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: degree · charge · shower · bank · game · ground · land · squash

  1. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. land — to come down
  3. ground — the earth
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. charge — a price
  7. bank — of a river
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bank — for money
  10. ground — crushed
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. land — ground
  13. degree — temperature
  14. charge — electricity
  15. bank — for money
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. shower — rain
  18. land — a country
  19. game — a match
  20. shower — to wash
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — to crush
  23. ground — a position
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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