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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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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: cap · shower · nail · kid · club · degree · pitcher · wound

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wound — an injury
  4. shower — rain
  5. cap — of ice
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. degree — temperature
  12. club — a group
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cap — a hat
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — for dancing
  18. shower — to wash
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. wound — an injury
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. degree — an amount

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