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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: trunk · tear · cold · foot · degree · club

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. tear — from crying
  3. club — a group
  4. foot — a measure
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tear — to rip
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. cold — an illness
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. degree — temperature
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — for dancing
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — not warm
  18. trunk — of a car

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