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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: temple · mate · racket · board · degree · rash · wind · cold

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. cold — an illness
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. rash — a series
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. board — to get on
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. wind — moving air
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. mate — a partner
  16. rash — hasty
  17. mate — to breed
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. mate — a friend
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. board — a committee
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. cold — not warm

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