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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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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: shower · cold · plane · safe · tear · deal · degree · hand

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. degree — from a university
  4. tear — from crying
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — not warm
  9. deal — to handle
  10. degree — temperature
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. degree — an amount
  18. shower — to wash
  19. plane — a tool
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. cold — an illness
  22. shower — rain
  23. hand — in cards
  24. plane — in geometry

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