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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: root · shower · ball · lash · rush · degree · bound · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. bound — certain
  8. rush — hurry
  9. ball — a great time
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ball — a dance
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. root — of a word
  15. shower — rain
  16. bound — obliged
  17. degree — from a university
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cold — not warm
  20. root — the cause
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bound — tied together
  24. root — of a plant

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