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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: file · shower · racket · date · degree · bowl · craft · fork

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. file — a document
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. shower — to wash
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. shower — rain
  10. file — a line of people
  11. craft — boats
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. degree — temperature
  15. file — a tool
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. craft — a skill
  20. fork — in a road
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. date — the fruit
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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