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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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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: shower · swing · degree · fall · fine · perch · club · spell

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. swing — music
  3. spell — magic
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spell — a short time
  11. club — for golf
  12. fall — to drop
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. degree — from a university
  15. fine — high quality
  16. spell — letters
  17. fall — to drop
  18. swing — in golf
  19. club — for dancing
  20. shower — rain
  21. fine — all right
  22. swing — to play on
  23. club — a group
  24. fall — the season

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