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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: degree · fork · bass · prune · snap · rock

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. rock — music
  7. rock — a stone
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. bass — the fish
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. prune — to trim
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bass — low music
  18. fork — in a road

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