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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: ball · march · perch · nail · tube · degree · shower · file

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. file — a document
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. file — a tool
  5. shower — rain
  6. ball — a great time
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. tube — the underground
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. march — music
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. ball — a dance
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. file — a line of people
  22. march — the month
  23. tube — a container
  24. nail — for a hammer

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