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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: mine · pit · straw · degree · shower · row · cue · roll

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a signal
  4. degree — an amount
  5. roll — a cake
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cue — a hint
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pit — a hole
  12. degree — temperature
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mine — for digging
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. shower — rain
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. degree — from a university
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — in a race
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. row — a line
  24. roll — a list

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