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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: straw · shower · court · mouse · degree · bark · chair · face

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. shower — to wash
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. face — part of the head
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. court — of a king
  11. shower — rain
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. degree — an amount
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. face — to point toward
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. degree — from a university
  22. face — to confront
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mouse — for a computer

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