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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rush · ground · cold · prune · degree · deal · nail · bear

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bear — the animal
  6. ground — crushed
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. ground — the earth
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. ground — a position
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. deal — to handle
  19. prune — to trim
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cold — not warm
  23. deal — an agreement
  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