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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: degree · straw · cap · shower · court · file · fan · trunk

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. court — of a king
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a document
  6. shower — rain
  7. cap — a hat
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. court — for sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. shower — to wash
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. degree — temperature
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cap — a lid
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. file — a line of people
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. file — a tool
  22. court — of law
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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