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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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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: deal · sharp · patient · band · ground · pitcher · shower · degree

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. shower — to wash
  3. deal — to handle
  4. ground — crushed
  5. band — a music group
  6. degree — temperature
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — clever
  10. degree — an amount
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — from a university
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. band — a ring
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. ground — a position
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. shower — rain
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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