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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 · squash · fork · rest · shower · spring · land · pound

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. rest — a break
  5. squash — the sport
  6. degree — an amount
  7. land — to come down
  8. degree — temperature
  9. spring — a coil
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. pound — a weight
  13. spring — of water
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. spring — the season
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. degree — from a university
  19. land — a country
  20. rest — what's left
  21. squash — to crush
  22. land — ground
  23. rest — what's left
  24. shower — to wash

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