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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.

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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: land · game · wave · cold · kid · safe · swing · temple

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. kid — child
  4. game — wild animals
  5. land — to come down
  6. swing — in golf
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. swing — to play on
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cold — an illness
  14. swing — music
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. kid — to tease
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. game — a match
  22. land — ground
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. cold — not warm

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