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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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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: ground · current · trunk · cold · degree · pitch · bound · perch

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. degree — temperature
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cold — an illness
  6. perch — the fish
  7. current — of water
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bound — tied together
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitch — completely
  12. degree — from a university
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. current — electric
  16. ground — a position
  17. degree — an amount
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. current — happening now
  20. ground — crushed
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — certain

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