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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: wound · temple · mouse · bulb · trunk · cold · bear · key

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bulb — for light
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. key — the most important part
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. key — for a lock
  13. bulb — for light
  14. key — in music
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. cold — an illness
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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