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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: deal · leaves · tear · shower · prune · cap · last · degree

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. cap — a hat
  6. tear — from crying
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. shower — to wash
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tear — to rip
  15. prune — to trim
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cap — of ice
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. deal — to handle
  22. shower — rain
  23. degree — temperature
  24. leaves — of a tree

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