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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: coach · band · drill · degree · season · cold · bat · fall

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. degree — from a university
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. degree — temperature
  9. band — a music group
  10. season — of the year
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. bat — the animal
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. fall — to drop
  15. drill — army training
  16. drill — the tool
  17. band — a ring
  18. degree — an amount
  19. season — in sport
  20. drill — a practice
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. cold — not warm
  24. band — a rubber band

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