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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: cold · hide · band · ground · date · temple · race · track

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. track — to keep track
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ground — the earth
  6. race — the arms race
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. band — a ring
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. track — a song
  12. cold — not warm
  13. ground — crushed
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. track — a path
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. race — humankind
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. ground — a position
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. date — on the calendar

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