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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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. cold — an illness
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. press — newspapers
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. chip — for betting
  9. content — the amount
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. mine — for digging
  12. press — a publisher
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chip — to eat
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. press — to push
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. content — happy
  19. squash — the sport
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. chip — in a computer

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