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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 116 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: content · shower · net · rash · spell · degree · chair · face

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — a series
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. net — after costs
  7. degree — temperature
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. face — to point toward
  11. shower — to wash
  12. content — the amount
  13. face — part of the head
  14. chair — a leader
  15. spell — a short time
  16. degree — an amount
  17. shower — rain
  18. content — happy
  19. spell — letters
  20. degree — from a university
  21. rash — hasty
  22. spell — magic
  23. face — to confront
  24. net — in sport

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