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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bank — of a river
  4. bank — for money
  5. shower — to wash
  6. squash — the sport
  7. degree — temperature
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. degree — from a university
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — not warm
  16. degree — an amount
  17. drill — the tool
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bank — for money
  21. drill — army training
  22. squash — to crush
  23. drill — a practice
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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