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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. scale — in music
  7. club — for golf
  8. bass — low music
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. club — for dancing
  11. cold — not warm
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. bass — the fish
  14. present — a gift
  15. chip — to eat
  16. club — a group
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. chip — for betting
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. present — there
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. present — the time now

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