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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 · degree · cue · march · hide · spring · wind · rest

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cue — a signal
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. degree — from a university
  9. shower — rain
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. spring — of water
  12. rest — what's left
  13. shower — to wash
  14. cue — a hint
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. cue — for pool
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — an amount
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — temperature
  23. rest — a break
  24. march — music

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