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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: spring · shower · pitcher · game · chip · degree · wake · present

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. spring — the season
  3. shower — rain
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. shower — to wash
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wake — a trail
  11. game — a match
  12. chip — for betting
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — a gift
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. present — there
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. game — wild animals
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. degree — temperature
  22. spring — of water
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wake — before a funeral

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