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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: cap · cold · prune · temple · mate · stock · kick · degree

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. cap — a lid
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — an illness
  6. degree — an amount
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. stock — shares
  9. degree — from a university
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cap — of ice
  17. kick — in football
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mate — to breed
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. degree — temperature

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