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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. cold — not warm
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. drill — a practice
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. key — in music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. drill — army training
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. drill — the tool
  13. spell — a short time
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — letters
  17. bore — to drill
  18. spell — magic
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. chip — for betting
  21. bore — to tire
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — to eat

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