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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.

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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 · court · row · swing · degree · calf · drill · deal

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. court — of law
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. drill — a practice
  10. degree — temperature
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. court — for sport
  13. shower — to wash
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. court — of a king
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. drill — army training
  21. deal — to handle
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. drill — the tool
  24. shower — rain

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