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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mate · press · degree · shower · content · fan · squash · spring

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. spring — a coil
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a partner
  7. content — happy
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — temperature
  10. content — the amount
  11. spring — of water
  12. shower — to wash
  13. press — newspapers
  14. spring — the season
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. press — to push
  17. squash — the sport
  18. shower — rain
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. squash — to crush
  21. press — a publisher
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. mate — a friend
  24. degree — from a university

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