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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. wound — an injury
  6. land — ground
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bore — to drill
  10. spring — of water
  11. swing — music
  12. land — to come down
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. swing — in golf
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. wound — an injury
  23. land — a country
  24. swing — to play on

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