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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: snap · degree · bark · bat · cold · pound · key · bulb

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. key — in music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pound — a weight
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bulb — for light
  11. key — for a lock
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. key — the most important part
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bulb — for light

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