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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: game · bulb · present · shower · mate · fork · cell · degree

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. degree — an amount
  3. present — there
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. bulb — for light
  9. degree — temperature
  10. mate — to breed
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bulb — for light
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. game — a match
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — a gift
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. game — wild animals
  23. fork — in a road
  24. shower — rain

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