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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 120 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: fork · pitch · prune · straw · fall · wind · degree · bear

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bear — the animal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bear — the animal
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pitch — completely
  18. fall — the season
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. prune — to trim
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wind — moving air

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