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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: rule · roll · cold · temple · court · straw · calf · plane

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. plane — a tool
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. court — of a king
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. roll — a cake
  18. roll — a list
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. court — for sport
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. court — of law

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