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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: fan · plane · trunk · shower · kid · degree · game · deal

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. kid — to tease
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. shower — rain
  6. game — wild animals
  7. degree — an amount
  8. plane — a tool
  9. kid — child
  10. deal — to handle
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. shower — to wash
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. game — a match
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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