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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: content · rash · bank · band · cold · degree · chip · rush

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bank — of a river
  4. content — happy
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. content — the amount
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rush — hurry
  12. band — a ring
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rash — a series
  15. rash — hasty
  16. chip — to eat
  17. bank — for money
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cold — not warm
  20. degree — an amount
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. chip — for betting
  23. degree — temperature
  24. content — videos and posts

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