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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cell — a phone
  4. file — a document
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. club — for dancing
  7. file — a line of people
  8. foot — a measure
  9. shower — rain
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. club — a group
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a tool
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — not warm
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cell — in biology
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. degree — from a university
  23. club — for golf
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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