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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: wave · craft · shower · bark · rest · mate · present · degree

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. craft — boats
  4. degree — from a university
  5. mate — to breed
  6. shower — rain
  7. craft — a skill
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. present — there
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. bark — to shout
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mate — a partner
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. present — the time now
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. mate — a friend
  21. shower — to wash
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — a break
  24. degree — temperature

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