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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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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 · tear · cap · calf · content · bowl · degree · club

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. degree — temperature
  4. content — happy
  5. club — for dancing
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cap — of ice
  11. tear — to rip
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cap — a hat
  14. content — the amount
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. club — for golf
  17. shower — rain
  18. tear — from crying
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cap — a lid
  23. club — a group
  24. tear — from crying

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