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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: band · shower · degree · swing · spring · craft · present · date

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. craft — a skill
  3. shower — rain
  4. present — a gift
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. present — there
  8. swing — to play on
  9. degree — an amount
  10. present — the time now
  11. band — a ring
  12. swing — music
  13. swing — in golf
  14. band — a music group
  15. spring — the season
  16. degree — temperature
  17. craft — boats
  18. spring — of water
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. shower — to wash
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. date — the fruit
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. spring — a coil

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