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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: race · temple · bound · sharp · cold · lash · march · land

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. march — the month
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. race — humankind
  5. sharp — clever
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bound — certain
  9. land — ground
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — the arms race
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bound — obliged
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. land — a country
  21. bound — tied together
  22. march — music
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. cold — an illness

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