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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: degree · shower · perch · date · wax · rash · fork · rule

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. shower — rain
  4. degree — temperature
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. shower — to wash
  8. perch — the fish
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. date — the fruit
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. fork — in a road
  19. wax — to grow
  20. degree — an amount
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rash — a series
  24. rule — a law

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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