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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. swing — music
  7. staff — a stick
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cold — an illness
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. spring — the season
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. spring — of water
  14. swing — in golf
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. spring — a coil
  20. staff — employees
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. swing — to play on
  23. staff — employees
  24. sharp — exactly

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