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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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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: degree · bore · cold · current · pop · prune · bark · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pop — soda
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. degree — temperature
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. degree — an amount
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bark — to shout
  12. current — happening now
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. prune — to trim
  16. degree — from a university
  17. current — electric
  18. lean — to bend
  19. pop — to visit
  20. current — of water
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — to drill

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