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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: stick · jam · cold · temple · spring · tube · land · chip

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. tube — a container
  3. cold — not warm
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — to eat
  7. land — to come down
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spring — of water
  12. land — a country
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. land — ground
  15. chip — for betting
  16. spring — the season
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. tube — the underground
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. spring — a coil
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. temple — a place of worship

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