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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: firm · kick · shower · mate · degree · squash · rule · bat

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. shower — rain
  3. rule — a law
  4. firm — steady
  5. squash — to crush
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. firm — decided
  12. rule — government
  13. firm — a company
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bat — the animal
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. kick — in football
  19. degree — an amount
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mate — a friend
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. degree — from a university
  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