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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: foot · bat · shower · calf · game · mine · fall · degree

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. degree — from a university
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bat — the animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. fall — to drop
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. fall — to drop
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. degree — an amount
  16. foot — a measure
  17. game — a match
  18. degree — temperature
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. game — wild animals
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. bat — in an idiom

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