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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. cold — an illness
  3. mate — to breed
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. mate — a friend
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. degree — temperature
  15. drill — army training
  16. pitch — completely
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mate — a partner
  19. chest — of your body
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bass — the fish
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. chest — a box
  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