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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: cold · bear · scale · fork · degree · present

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. scale — size or range
  3. fork — in a road
  4. present — a gift
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cold — not warm
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — there
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. bear — the animal

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