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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 120 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: stick · shower · content · pitch · rash · mine · craft · degree

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. rash — a series
  9. craft — boats
  10. content — happy
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. shower — rain
  14. degree — from a university
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rash — hasty
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. craft — a skill
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pitch — completely
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mine — for digging
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. content — the 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