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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: clip · hide · bass · degree · dip · rush · pit · shower

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. degree — from a university
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. shower — rain
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — in a race
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. rush — hurry
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. degree — temperature
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — to cut
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. bass — the fish
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pit — a hole
  22. clip — a video
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. dip — to sink

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