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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: bore · date · wind · branch · cold · degree · mouse · present

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  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. bore — to tire
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. date — the fruit
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cold — not warm
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. present — the time now
  13. wind — moving air
  14. branch — a division
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bore — to drill
  22. present — there
  23. present — a gift
  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