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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: game · cold · degree · bat · bear · bank · march · firm

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bank — of a river
  3. march — the month
  4. degree — from a university
  5. march — music
  6. firm — steady
  7. cold — not warm
  8. firm — decided
  9. firm — a company
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bank — for money
  15. degree — temperature
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bank — for money
  21. march — the month
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bear — the animal

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