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

Word bank: plane · temple · cap · chair · cold · tear

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cold — an illness
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. cap — a hat
  7. tear — to rip
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. plane — a tool
  10. cap — a lid
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. tear — from crying
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. cold — not warm
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. tear — from crying

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