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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: degree · cold · band · mark · cell · wake · dip · jam

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cell — a phone
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. mark — a grade
  6. degree — temperature
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. dip — to sink
  11. band — a ring
  12. degree — an amount
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. band — a music group
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a trace
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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