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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. cold — not warm
  4. drill — a practice
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. drill — the tool
  8. bear — the animal
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bear — the animal
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — moving air
  19. drill — army training
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wound — an injury
  23. plane — a tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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