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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: shower · snap · rock · spring · fork · degree · craft · pit

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. snap — to click
  4. craft — boats
  5. rock — music
  6. shower — rain
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. craft — a skill
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pit — in a race
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pit — a hole
  15. spring — the season
  16. rock — a stone
  17. spring — of water
  18. fork — in a road
  19. degree — from a university
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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