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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 116 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: shower · spell · degree · dip · saw · lean · bore · capital

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. capital — a city
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bore — to tire
  8. saw — the tool
  9. spell — a short time
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bore — to drill
  13. degree — from a university
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. degree — temperature
  16. shower — rain
  17. capital — money
  18. spell — magic
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spell — letters
  21. lean — to bend
  22. lean — thin
  23. dip — to sink
  24. saw — the tool

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