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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · sharp · shower · net · craft · tear · racket · tube

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. 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. craft — boats
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. degree — from a university
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. degree — temperature
  9. shower — to wash
  10. net — for catching
  11. tube — a container
  12. sharp — clever
  13. craft — a skill
  14. net — after costs
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. net — in sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. tube — the underground
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. tear — to rip
  23. degree — an amount
  24. 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