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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. cue — a hint
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. bound — tied together
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bound — obliged
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. row — to paddle
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cue — for pool
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. cue — a signal

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