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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: tear · mark · bark · toast · craft · degree

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. bark — to shout
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. craft — a skill
  10. tear — from crying
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mark — a grade
  16. degree — from a university
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. toast — the most admired

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