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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: cold · shower · trunk · degree · ruler · bear · tube · toast

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tube — the underground
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bear — the animal
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. toast — bread
  15. bear — the animal
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. shower — rain
  19. tube — a container
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. shower — to wash
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bear — to put up with

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