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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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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: bowl · cold · patient · craft · degree · date · calf · temple

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. degree — from a university
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cold — an illness
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. craft — a skill
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. craft — boats
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. degree — temperature
  21. date — the fruit
  22. degree — an amount
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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