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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.

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: spring · fall · degree · cold · fine · file · bank · ball

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — of water
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bank — for money
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fine — high quality
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a tool
  15. fine — all right
  16. fall — to drop
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bank — for money
  19. file — a document
  20. bank — of a river
  21. ball — a dance
  22. degree — from a university
  23. fall — the season
  24. ball — a great time

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