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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: degree · ball · shower · wave · lean · roll · tear · fork

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. lean — thin
  3. tear — from crying
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. ball — a dance
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. lean — to bend
  9. shower — rain
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. ball — a great time
  13. fork — in a road
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a list
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. tear — to rip
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. shower — to wash
  23. degree — from a university
  24. roll — a cake

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