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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 120 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: snap · present · degree · content · shower · fall · net · trunk

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. content — the amount
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. degree — temperature
  6. net — after costs
  7. fall — to drop
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. fall — to drop
  10. net — in sport
  11. present — there
  12. present — the time now
  13. degree — from a university
  14. content — happy
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. present — a gift
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. fall — the season
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. net — for catching
  22. snap — to click
  23. shower — rain
  24. degree — an amount

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