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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: cold · branch · coach · trunk · spring · degree · hide · date

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. spring — of water
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. branch — a division
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cold — an illness
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. spring — a coil
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. degree — an amount
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. degree — from a university

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