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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. mug — to rob
  7. pit — a hole
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. row — a line
  15. mug — a face
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pit — in a race
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. mug — a cup
  24. prune — to trim

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