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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: sharp · rest · cold · bark · drill · bowl · press · temple

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cold — an illness
  6. press — to push
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. press — a publisher
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. cold — not warm
  12. drill — army training
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. press — newspapers
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. sharp — clever
  19. drill — a practice
  20. rest — a break
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. bowl — a dish

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