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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: cell · racket · degree · bulb · prune · kid · fan · tear

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. kid — child
  3. tear — from crying
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bulb — for light
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. cell — in biology
  13. kid — to tease
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cell — a phone
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. degree — from a university
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bulb — for light
  24. prune — to trim

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