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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 · ball · wound · patient · race · swing · roll · wind

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. race — the arms race
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. roll — a cake
  5. wound — an injury
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. swing — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. race — a contest
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — moving air
  19. swing — in golf
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. roll — a list
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a great time
  24. swing — to play on

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