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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: ball · chair · temple · racket · chest · cold · dip · spring

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. spring — a coil
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. spring — the season
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. cold — an illness
  10. dip — to sink
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. chest — a box
  13. ball — a dance
  14. ball — a great time
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chest — of your body
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. ball — a round shape

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