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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: cold · leaves · bass · degree · chest · bear · fork · pop

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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. chest — of your body
  4. fork — in a road
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bass — low music
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. pop — music
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pop — soda
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. bass — the fish
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. degree — from a university
  24. 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