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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 · firm · mine · spell · rash · cold · field · bat

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. field — for sport
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rash — a series
  5. field — a subject
  6. spell — letters
  7. field — farmland
  8. firm — decided
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. firm — steady
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. cold — an illness
  18. spell — magic
  19. cold — not warm
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. firm — a company
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rash — hasty

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