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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitcher · march · track · cold · race · file · temple · drill

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. drill — the tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. drill — a practice
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a path
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cold — not warm
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. track — a song
  16. file — a tool
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a document
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. file — a line of people
  24. drill — army training

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