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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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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: straw · temple · bay · coach · sharp · cold

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cold — an illness
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. temple — a place of worship

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