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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fine · sharp · scale · cold · temple · face · capital · chest

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. scale — in music
  6. face — to point toward
  7. fine — all right
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. face — to confront
  10. fine — high quality
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — a city
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chest — of your body
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — an illness
  17. face — part of the head
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. capital — money
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. scale — size or range
  22. sharp — clever
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. chest — a box

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