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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: bat · pitcher · cell · face · file · bank · shower · degree

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. face — to point toward
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cell — in biology
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bank — of a river
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. bank — for money
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bank — for money
  12. face — part of the head
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a tool
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. face — to confront
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cell — a phone
  22. file — a document
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. degree — temperature

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