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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: degree · fork · cap · branch · swing · rock · cold · ball

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. ball — a great time
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cap — a lid
  7. branch — a division
  8. swing — in golf
  9. rock — a stone
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. swing — music
  13. cold — not warm
  14. degree — from a university
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cap — a hat
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. ball — a dance
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. fork — in a road
  24. cold — the Cold War

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