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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: race · leaves · bowl · temple · tear · wound · ground · content

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. wound — an injury
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. ground — crushed
  13. content — happy
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — from crying
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. race — the arms race
  18. ground — the earth
  19. content — the amount
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. ground — a position
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. tear — to rip

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