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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: temple · kid · chip · bulb · cell · face · cold · stem

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — for betting
  6. cold — an illness
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. kid — child
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bulb — for light
  12. chip — to eat
  13. bulb — for light
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. face — to confront
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cell — a phone

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