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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: bore · bass · net · degree · shower · hide · bat · stem

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. shower — to wash
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. net — for catching
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. net — after costs
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bore — to tire
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bass — low music
  23. net — in sport
  24. bat — in an idiom

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