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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: cap · lash · fan · pitcher · kid · shower · toast · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. degree — temperature
  4. toast — bread
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cap — a lid
  13. shower — rain
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cap — of ice
  21. degree — from a university
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. cap — a hat

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