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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: mug · land · clip · chest · prune · temple · fan · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. land — ground
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chest — of your body
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. mug — to rob
  17. land — to come down
  18. clip — a video
  19. mug — a face
  20. clip — for paper
  21. land — a country
  22. clip — to cut
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. mug — a cup

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