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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: tear · shower · wake · rock · racket · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. degree — temperature
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. tear — to rip
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rock — music
  11. shower — rain
  12. wake — a trail
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. rock — a stone
  15. degree — from a university
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. tear — from crying

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