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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. last — final
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. court — of law
  8. spring — of water
  9. game — a match
  10. spring — a coil
  11. can — a tin
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. court — of a king
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cold — an illness
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. court — for sport
  18. can — a tin
  19. spring — the season
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cold — not warm
  23. last — finally
  24. can — to be able to

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