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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: cold · cue · degree · land · rest · spring · bank · key

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bank — for money
  3. key — in music
  4. spring — of water
  5. cue — for pool
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bank — of a river
  8. spring — the season
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rest — a break
  13. key — the most important part
  14. rest — what's left
  15. land — a country
  16. cue — a signal
  17. key — for a lock
  18. degree — from a university
  19. land — ground
  20. rest — what's left
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bank — for money
  24. land — to come down

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