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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. key — the most important part
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. content — the amount
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. capital — money
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. key — for a lock
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. key — in music
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. capital — a city
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. content — happy
  24. cold — not warm

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