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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rash · last · staff · degree · hand · shower · row · coach

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. staff — a stick
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. rash — hasty
  5. hand — in cards
  6. last — to go on
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. row — to paddle
  9. staff — employees
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. last — final
  13. last — finally
  14. shower — rain
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. degree — an amount
  17. staff — employees
  18. shower — to wash
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. row — a line
  21. hand — help
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rash — a series
  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