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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: temple · cold · swing · fall · stem · track · bowl · kick

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  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. bowl — to roll
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. track — a path
  6. swing — in golf
  7. fall — to drop
  8. kick — in football
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. track — to keep track
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stem — to come from
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. track — a song
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — the season
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. fall — to drop
  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