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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. band — a music group
  6. ball — a dance
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cold — not warm
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. drill — a practice
  12. pitch — completely
  13. band — a ring
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. rash — hasty
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. drill — army training
  20. rash — a series
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. ball — a great time
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. band — a rubber band

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