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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: cue · fork · file · root · pop · pass · cold · degree

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pop — soda
  4. cue — a signal
  5. cue — a hint
  6. pop — to visit
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. root — of a plant
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cue — for pool
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. pass — a permit
  15. degree — temperature
  16. root — the cause
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pop — music
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. root — of a word
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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