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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. fall — to drop
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chair — a leader
  6. saw — the tool
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bank — for money
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. bank — for money
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bank — of a river
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. fall — the season

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