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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: racket · club · shower · last · bark · field · degree · bear

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. last — to go on
  3. club — for dancing
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bear — the animal
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. last — final
  10. degree — temperature
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. club — for golf
  14. bark — to shout
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. shower — to wash
  17. field — a subject
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bear — the animal
  20. last — finally
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. club — a group
  24. bear — to put up with

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