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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.

Make a worksheet

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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. content — happy
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ball — a great time
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rash — a series
  8. content — the amount
  9. current — of water
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. cold — not warm
  14. current — electric
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rash — hasty
  19. current — happening now
  20. wound — an injury
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. temple — side of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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