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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 · last · bear · cold · band · cap · scale · straw

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. scale — in music
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bear — the animal
  7. scale — size or range
  8. cap — of ice
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a music group
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bear — the animal
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — not warm
  21. last — final
  22. cap — a lid
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. straw — dry grass

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