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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: bear · chip · temple · tube · bat · cold · perch · roll

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. roll — a cake
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. tube — a container
  13. bear — the animal
  14. chip — for betting
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. bear — the animal
  17. perch — the fish
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a list
  24. perch — for a bird

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