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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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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: current · temple · cap · calf · cold · wound · wake · deal

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cap — a hat
  4. current — of water
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cold — an illness
  8. current — happening now
  9. wound — an injury
  10. current — electric
  11. cap — a lid
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. deal — to handle
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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