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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 · file · pitch · spring · cell · last · cue · wind

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cue — a hint
  3. last — to go on
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. file — a line of people
  6. spring — the season
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cue — a signal
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cell — in biology
  12. file — a tool
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. spring — of water
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. last — final
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cue — for pool
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cell — a phone
  22. last — finally
  23. file — a document
  24. wind — moving air

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