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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: content · cap · shower · field · temple · trunk · squash · degree

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. field — for sport
  2. cap — a lid
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cap — a hat
  5. degree — temperature
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cap — of ice
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. squash — the sport
  16. content — the amount
  17. field — a subject
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. content — happy
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. shower — to wash
  22. squash — to crush
  23. field — farmland
  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