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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: tear · trunk · field · squash · craft · degree · track · shower

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. track — to keep track
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tear — from crying
  7. shower — to wash
  8. tear — to rip
  9. craft — a skill
  10. track — a path
  11. craft — boats
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. tear — from crying
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. field — a subject
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. track — a song
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. shower — rain
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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