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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: bowl · temple · last · race · prune · date · spring · cell

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. last — final
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. prune — to trim
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cell — in biology
  9. spring — of water
  10. prune — to trim
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. last — to go on
  15. date — the fruit
  16. spring — the season
  17. cell — a phone
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. last — finally
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. spring — a coil

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