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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.

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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: temple · present · field · rest · row · perch · mine · cold

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. field — farmland
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — the time now
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rest — a break
  9. present — a gift
  10. perch — the fish
  11. mine — for digging
  12. field — a subject
  13. rest — what's left
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. field — for sport
  16. present — there
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. row — a line
  21. rest — what's left
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. row — to paddle

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