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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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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: bark · mug · degree · pop · cold · stand · prune · branch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. prune — to trim
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bark — to shout
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — soda
  12. branch — a division
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. mug — to rob
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pop — music
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. mug — a cup
  21. mug — a face
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cold — not warm
  24. stand — to bear

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