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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: cell · bat · snap · temple · cold · drill · bowl · cap

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. drill — the tool
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. drill — army training
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. snap — to click
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. cap — a hat
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. drill — a practice
  18. cell — in biology
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cell — a phone
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cap — of ice

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