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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: lash · shower · net · bulb · sharp · content · degree · file

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. shower — rain
  3. degree — an amount
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. net — after costs
  7. bulb — for light
  8. file — a document
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. net — for catching
  11. bulb — for light
  12. net — in sport
  13. degree — from a university
  14. shower — to wash
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. file — a line of people
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. file — a tool
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. degree — temperature

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