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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: tube · fall · mug · chest · cold · temple · deal · rest

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. mug — a cup
  4. chest — of your body
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chest — a box
  9. rest — what's left
  10. fall — to drop
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. mug — a face
  16. fall — to drop
  17. mug — to rob
  18. chest — of your body
  19. fall — the season
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — a break
  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