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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: press · cold · field · temple · race · foot

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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 — a place of worship
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. press — newspapers
  5. cold — not warm
  6. press — to push
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. foot — a measure
  9. race — a contest
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. race — humankind
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cold — an illness
  17. press — a publisher
  18. foot — part of the body

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