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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: temple · cold · can · pit · bat · trunk · wave · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. bat — the animal
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pit — in a race
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. can — a tin
  12. pit — a hole
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. can — to be able to
  19. band — a music group
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. can — a tin
  24. bat — in an idiom

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