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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: temple · chest · club · stand · cue · cold · tube · fan

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. chest — of your body
  4. club — for dancing
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. club — for golf
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. club — a group
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chest — of your body
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. cue — for pool
  20. tube — a container
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. cue — a hint
  23. chest — a box
  24. tube — the underground

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