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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: bank · bass · board · land · degree · content · cold · mate

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bank — of a river
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bank — for money
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bank — for money
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — a partner
  10. degree — an amount
  11. mate — to breed
  12. land — a country
  13. content — the amount
  14. land — to come down
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — low music
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. bass — the fish
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. content — happy
  21. board — a committee
  22. land — ground
  23. cold — an illness
  24. board — to get on

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