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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: wave · tear · temple · ground · land · cold · cell · fine

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. cell — in biology
  3. ground — a position
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. cell — a phone
  7. fine — high quality
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. land — to come down
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fine — all right
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. land — ground
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ground — crushed
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — a country
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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