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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.

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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: prune · ruler · degree · bear · lean · cold · kid · face

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. prune — to trim
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. bear — the animal
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cold — an illness
  8. degree — an amount
  9. kid — to tease
  10. degree — temperature
  11. face — to confront
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. face — part of the head
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. lean — to bend
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. bear — the animal
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. degree — from a university
  21. lean — thin
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kid — child

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