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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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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: rash · degree · stick · shower · deal · perch · content · kid

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. content — happy
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rash — hasty
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. kid — child
  11. shower — to wash
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. shower — rain
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. content — the amount
  19. deal — to handle
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. rash — a series
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. perch — the fish

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