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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: bowl · wake · date · land · cold · cap · rule · temple

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. rule — government
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. cap — of ice
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. land — a country
  14. wake — a trail
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. land — ground
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. cap — a lid
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rule — a law
  24. date — the fruit

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