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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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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: mate · bore · key · saw · temple · craft · tear · cold

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. key — for a lock
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. cold — an illness
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. mate — a partner
  10. saw — the tool
  11. key — in music
  12. mate — a friend
  13. tear — from crying
  14. saw — the tool
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. craft — boats
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bore — to drill
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. bore — to tire
  22. key — the most important part
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. bore — gave birth

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