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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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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: kick · toast · saw · rule · cold · bank · degree · hand

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rule — government
  4. bank — for money
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. bank — of a river
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. hand — in cards
  15. toast — bread
  16. rule — a law
  17. degree — from a university
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hand — help
  24. rule — to rule out

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