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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.

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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: rule · degree · shower · key · bat · deal · spring · squash

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. rule — government
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. degree — an amount
  6. key — the most important part
  7. rule — a law
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. key — for a lock
  12. squash — the sport
  13. spring — of water
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. degree — temperature
  16. key — in music
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. squash — to crush
  19. shower — rain
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. shower — to wash
  22. degree — from a university
  23. spring — the season
  24. deal — to handle

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