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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: shower · date · sharp · degree · land · court · row · pass

  1. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to spend time
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. shower — to wash
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. land — ground
  7. degree — temperature
  8. land — to come down
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. degree — an amount
  11. shower — rain
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. date — the fruit
  15. court — for sport
  16. row — a line
  17. degree — from a university
  18. court — of a king
  19. pass — a permit
  20. row — to paddle
  21. land — a country
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. sharp — clever
  24. court — of law

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