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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 · face · file · spring · shower · deal · pitcher

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. face — to point toward
  5. file — a tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. degree — from a university
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. spring — of water
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. face — part of the head
  15. ball — a great time
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. face — to confront
  20. degree — an amount
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. pitcher — a jug

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