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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: pass · chest · clip · hide · shower · bulb · bear · degree

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — rain
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pass — a permit
  12. clip — a video
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. bulb — for light
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bear — the animal
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. clip — for paper
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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