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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: hand · tear · net · wax · shower · bark · degree · press

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. shower — rain
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wax — to grow
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. press — to push
  9. net — in sport
  10. press — newspapers
  11. degree — temperature
  12. net — after costs
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. degree — from a university
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. net — for catching
  19. hand — help
  20. shower — to wash
  21. degree — an amount
  22. press — a publisher
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. hand — part of the body

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