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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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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: temple · sharp · bank · cold · kid · wax · band · game

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. band — a ring
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — of a river
  13. game — wild animals
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. band — a music group
  18. kid — child
  19. bank — for money
  20. wax — to grow
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. kid — to tease
  23. game — a match
  24. sharp — exactly

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