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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: bank · present · pass · fork · degree · bark · cold · cap

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  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. degree — from a university
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. fork — in a road
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. cap — of ice
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. present — a gift
  13. bank — for money
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. present — the time now
  18. bank — for money
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. present — there
  22. pass — a permit
  23. cap — a lid
  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