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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rule — a law
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. file — a line of people
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. press — a publisher
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cold — not warm
  15. file — a tool
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. press — newspapers
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. press — to push
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rule — government
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. file — a document

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