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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: sharp · toast · swing · stem · degree · trunk · shower · squash

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. squash — the sport
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. degree — an amount
  5. squash — to crush
  6. sharp — clever
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. degree — from a university
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. swing — music
  13. stem — to come from
  14. swing — to play on
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. toast — bread
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. swing — in golf
  24. degree — temperature

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