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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: shower · prune · snap · staff · game · degree · leaves · tear

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to click
  4. shower — rain
  5. prune — to trim
  6. degree — from a university
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. tear — from crying
  9. shower — to wash
  10. game — a match
  11. staff — employees
  12. prune — to trim
  13. staff — employees
  14. degree — an amount
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. tear — from crying
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. game — wild animals
  23. staff — a stick
  24. tear — to rip

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