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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 · temple · object · land · bass · kid · rest · key

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. land — ground
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rest — a break
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rest — what's left
  8. land — to come down
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. land — a country
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — an aim
  14. kid — to tease
  15. key — for a lock
  16. cold — an illness
  17. key — the most important part
  18. key — in music
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. rest — what's left
  21. object — a thing
  22. kid — child
  23. bass — low music
  24. temple — side of the head

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