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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — a box
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tube — a container
  7. cold — not warm
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. chest — of your body
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — the arms race
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wake — a trail
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. race — a contest
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tube — the underground
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. temple — a place of worship

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