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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. capital — money
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. dip — to sink
  9. track — a path
  10. file — a document
  11. ground — crushed
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a song
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. ground — the earth
  16. cold — not warm
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. capital — a city
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. ground — a position

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