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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: degree · date · club · tear · coach · wind

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. 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. coach — a trainer
  2. tear — to rip
  3. degree — from a university
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wind — moving air
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. club — a group
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — the fruit
  14. club — for dancing
  15. wind — moving air
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. club — for golf
  18. 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