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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · rash · kid · date · dip · degree · shower · bass

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. degree — temperature
  2. bass — low music
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. date — the fruit
  7. bass — the fish
  8. degree — an amount
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. shower — to wash
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. kid — child
  13. rash — hasty
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. shower — rain
  20. kid — to tease
  21. dip — to sink
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rash — a series
  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