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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: bowl · staff · shower · degree · pit · scale · spring · deal

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. shower — to wash
  3. staff — a stick
  4. staff — employees
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. spring — a coil
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. scale — in music
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. deal — to handle
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. staff — employees
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spring — the season
  17. scale — size or range
  18. spring — of water
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. shower — rain
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. pit — in a race

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