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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bark — to shout
  4. key — the most important part
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bulb — for light
  7. degree — an amount
  8. branch — a division
  9. key — for a lock
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. fork — in a road
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bulb — for light
  17. degree — from a university
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. key — in music
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. cold — an illness

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