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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cap — a hat
  6. date — the fruit
  7. present — a gift
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cap — a lid
  10. present — there
  11. kid — child
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cold — an illness
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. wound — an injury
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. dip — to sink
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cap — of ice
  24. present — the time now

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