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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: cold · cell · mine · temple · last · content · fall · cue

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. content — happy
  3. cue — for pool
  4. last — final
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. last — to go on
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. fall — to drop
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. fall — the season
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. mine — for digging
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cue — a hint
  18. cold — an illness
  19. last — finally
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cue — a signal
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. content — the amount

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