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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: bark · coach · cap · prune · current · straw · degree · cold

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. degree — temperature
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. current — of water
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. current — happening now
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cap — a hat
  12. degree — an amount
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cap — of ice
  20. degree — from a university
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. current — electric
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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