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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. key — for a lock
  3. degree — an amount
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — a match
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cold — an illness
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. key — in music
  15. key — the most important part
  16. degree — from a university
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. cold — not warm
  19. degree — temperature
  20. current — happening now
  21. current — electric
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. current — of water

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