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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 120 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: bear · spring · bank · tube · degree · cold · kick · pitch

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitch — completely
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bank — of a river
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. bank — for money
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. kick — in football
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. bank — for money
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. spring — the season
  21. degree — temperature
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. cold — not warm
  24. degree — an amount

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