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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.

Words on the sheet
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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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. drill — army training
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — farmland
  8. pop — soda
  9. key — the most important part
  10. key — in music
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — the season
  13. drill — the tool
  14. spring — of water
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. drill — a practice
  19. field — a subject
  20. pop — music
  21. key — for a lock
  22. pop — to visit
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. cold — the Cold War

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