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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · rule · jam · degree · content · wake · coach · sharp

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — the amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wake — a trail
  10. content — happy
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. cold — an illness
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — government
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. degree — temperature
  19. sharp — clever
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. cold — not warm
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. coach — a trainer

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