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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. land — ground
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cue — a signal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. cue — for pool
  8. spell — letters
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. land — a country
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — a short time
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cue — a hint
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. land — to come down

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