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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: shower · degree · racket · tear · date · fork · bulb · bear

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. date — the fruit
  3. fork — in a road
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bear — the animal
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. shower — rain
  14. bulb — for light
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. tear — from crying
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. date — on the calendar

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