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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · last · temple · cold · racket · pass

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. field — farmland
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. field — for sport
  7. last — final
  8. last — to go on
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cold — an illness
  13. last — finally
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. field — a subject
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War

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