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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: perch · mug · can · spring · shower · fine · tear · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. perch — the fish
  3. degree — from a university
  4. spring — a coil
  5. tear — from crying
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — a tin
  9. spring — the season
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. tear — to rip
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mug — a face
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. mug — a cup
  18. fine — all right
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spring — of water
  21. fine — high quality
  22. shower — rain
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mug — to rob

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