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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: field · bank · season · cold · degree · coach · lean · wake

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cold — an illness
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. bank — for money
  7. field — farmland
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bank — of a river
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wake — a trail
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. season — in sport
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bank — for money
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. lean — thin

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