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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 120 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 light ________________ burned out.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  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. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cold — not warm
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. last — to go on
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. cold — an illness
  13. object — to protest
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. object — a thing
  17. band — a music group
  18. rush — hurry
  19. band — a ring
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. object — an aim
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. snap — to click
  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