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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: bowl · degree · drill · foot · tear · bank

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. tear — from crying
  5. degree — from a university
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. drill — army training
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bank — of a river
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. foot — a measure
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bank — for money
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. bank — for money
  17. tear — to rip
  18. drill — a practice

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