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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: nail · hide · ground · tear · game · degree · racket · shower

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. game — wild animals
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. ground — a position
  9. shower — to wash
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — temperature
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ground — the earth
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. game — a match
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. shower — rain
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — a loud noise

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