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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: pitcher · bowl · clip · arm · wound · shower · bay · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. clip — for paper
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. shower — to wash
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — a video
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. shower — rain
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. degree — an amount

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