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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 120 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
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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: shower · hand · branch · wave · race · bat · object · degree

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. race — a contest
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. object — to protest
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bat — the animal
  11. degree — an amount
  12. shower — rain
  13. hand — help
  14. race — humankind
  15. object — a thing
  16. hand — in cards
  17. degree — from a university
  18. shower — to wash
  19. race — the arms race
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. object — an aim
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. degree — temperature
  24. hand — part of the body

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