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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 120 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: cold · content · mine · race · hand · cabinet · temple · current

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. content — the amount
  6. current — of water
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. race — humankind
  12. current — electric
  13. content — happy
  14. current — happening now
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. race — the arms race
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. cold — an illness
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. race — a contest
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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