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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: calf · rule · spell · shower · last · cold · degree · ball

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. ball — a great time
  7. shower — to wash
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. shower — rain
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. rule — government
  14. ball — a dance
  15. rule — a law
  16. degree — temperature
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — letters
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cold — not warm
  22. last — finally
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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