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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: fall · trunk · degree · key · march · snap · cold · kid

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  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. trunk — of a tree
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. snap — to click
  4. march — music
  5. degree — temperature
  6. fall — the season
  7. key — the most important part
  8. degree — from a university
  9. march — the month
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — an illness
  12. key — in music
  13. degree — an amount
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. key — for a lock
  17. cold — not warm
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. march — the month
  20. kid — child
  21. fall — to drop
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  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