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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: date · lean · dip · bank · mine · cold · degree · drill

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. drill — army training
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bank — for money
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lean — thin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bank — for money
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. dip — to sink
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bank — of a river
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. degree — an amount

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