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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: fan · branch · degree · cap · shower · kid · content · game

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a lid
  4. game — wild animals
  5. content — happy
  6. degree — an amount
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. branch — a division
  12. kid — to tease
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. kid — child
  15. shower — rain
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. content — the amount
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. cap — a hat
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. shower — to wash

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