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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 120 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: field · cold · bank · degree · drill · firm · craft · ball

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bank — of a river
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a great time
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. ball — a dance
  8. bank — for money
  9. firm — steady
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. drill — army training
  12. field — for sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. firm — decided
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cold — not warm
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bank — for money
  19. firm — a company
  20. drill — a practice
  21. craft — a skill
  22. degree — an amount
  23. cold — an illness
  24. craft — a handicraft

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