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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: last · coach · rush · cold · jam · bark · bank · degree

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bark — to shout
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bank — of a river
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. last — to go on
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rush — hurry
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. degree — temperature
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. bank — for money
  23. cold — not warm
  24. degree — from a university

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