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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: chip · mark · spell · lean · bowl · cold · degree · bank

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. bank — for money
  3. bank — for money
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. spell — a short time
  7. lean — thin
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. spell — magic
  12. mark — a grade
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spell — letters
  15. degree — an amount
  16. mark — a trace
  17. lean — to bend
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. chip — for betting
  22. bank — of a river
  23. chip — to eat
  24. degree — temperature

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