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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: degree · shower · wake · spring · ruler · bore · file · cap

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. spring — a coil
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bore — to tire
  10. shower — rain
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. cap — a hat
  14. spring — of water
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. cap — of ice
  17. bore — to drill
  18. file — a tool
  19. degree — an amount
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — temperature
  22. spring — the season
  23. file — a document
  24. cap — a lid

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