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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: temple · row · object · bay · last · key · roll · cold

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. key — the most important part
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. last — to go on
  8. object — a thing
  9. object — an aim
  10. cold — an illness
  11. last — final
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. object — to protest
  14. row — a line
  15. roll — a list
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — in music
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. key — for a lock
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. row — to paddle

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