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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · plane · cold · pitcher · hand · temple

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. hand — help
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. game — a match
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. plane — a tool
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hand — in cards
  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