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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: cold · temple · rule · prune · bulb · leaves · file · court

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bulb — for light
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. court — of law
  10. rule — a law
  11. bulb — for light
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. prune — to trim
  14. file — a line of people
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. prune — to trim
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a document
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. file — a tool

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