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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. season — of the year
  7. date — the fruit
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — an illness
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. file — a tool
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pitch — completely
  22. file — a document
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cold — not warm

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