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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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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: degree · march · craft · bark · cold · clip · pass · chair

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. march — music
  6. degree — from a university
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — a video
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. chair — a leader
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. pass — a permit
  14. bark — to shout
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cold — an illness
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. clip — for paper
  22. craft — boats
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. march — the month

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