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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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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: pound · temple · staff · lean · clip · squash · rush · cold

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. lean — thin
  5. squash — to crush
  6. staff — employees
  7. squash — the sport
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. staff — employees
  14. clip — a video
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. cold — an illness
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. staff — a stick
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pound — a weight

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