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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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. row — a quarrel
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. row — a line
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. board — a committee
  18. band — a ring
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — to paddle
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. band — a music group
  24. board — to get on

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