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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: deal · degree · lie · prune · pass · bore · fork · cold

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pass — a permit
  4. cold — an illness
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. prune — to trim
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bore — to drill
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. degree — an amount
  14. fork — in a road
  15. deal — to handle
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. degree — from a university
  20. lie — to recline
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — to tire

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