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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 · spring · shower · clip · wave · hide · capital · bound

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bound — certain
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. shower — to wash
  8. capital — money
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. degree — temperature
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bound — obliged
  13. clip — a video
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. shower — rain
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. spring — of water
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bound — tied together
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. clip — to cut
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. wave — with your hand

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