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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.

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: plane · shower · kid · stem · lash · degree · bass · hide

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stem — to come from
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. shower — to wash
  15. kid — to tease
  16. plane — a tool
  17. kid — child
  18. bass — low music
  19. shower — rain
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bass — the fish
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. degree — an amount
  24. stem — of a plant

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