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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. root — of a plant
  4. snap — to click
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. root — of a word
  8. cold — not warm
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. file — a document
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the fish
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. season — in sport
  17. root — the cause
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. file — a tool
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. season — of the year
  23. cold — an illness
  24. file — a line of people

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