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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.

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: net · cold · mug · present · temple · date · vault · leaves

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. date — the fruit
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mug — to rob
  8. net — for catching
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. present — a gift
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. mug — a cup
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. mug — a face
  16. net — in sport
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — there
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. vault — a safe
  24. net — after costs

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