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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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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. foot — a measure
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. last — final
  12. last — finally
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. temple — side of the head

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