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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. rule — government
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — ground
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — from a university
  16. tear — from crying
  17. land — to come down
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cold — not warm
  21. deal — to handle
  22. tear — to rip
  23. land — a country
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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