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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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Word bank
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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — from a university
  7. march — music
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chest — a box
  14. cold — an illness
  15. march — the month
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. march — the month
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. date — the fruit
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. coach — a trainer

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