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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 116 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 · pop · shower · file · hide · rule · kid · mate

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. mate — to breed
  3. degree — temperature
  4. kid — to tease
  5. degree — an amount
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. file — a tool
  8. shower — rain
  9. pop — soda
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rule — government
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. rule — a law
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. file — a document
  18. pop — music
  19. kid — child
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. mate — a partner
  23. degree — from a university
  24. file — a line of people

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