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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: firm · wind · temple · scale · cold · pound

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. firm — decided
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. firm — a company
  11. pound — a weight
  12. cold — an illness
  13. scale — size or range
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. scale — in music
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air

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