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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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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: cold · race · degree · season · foot · pound · calf · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. season — in sport
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — from a university
  9. race — the arms race
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. season — of the year
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. race — a contest
  14. pound — a weight
  15. race — humankind
  16. degree — an amount
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cold — an illness
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. calf — a young animal

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