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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 · season · nail · root · rush · bound · degree · current

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bound — obliged
  4. degree — temperature
  5. season — in sport
  6. current — of water
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rush — hurry
  9. cold — not warm
  10. current — electric
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. current — happening now
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. root — of a plant
  17. season — of the year
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. root — the cause
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. root — of a word
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. cold — the Cold War

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