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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 120 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: straw · cold · deal · rest · temple · spring · cell · scale

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rest — what's left
  9. scale — in music
  10. cold — an illness
  11. deal — to handle
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. spring — of water
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cell — in biology
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. rest — what's left
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. rest — a break
  24. spring — the season

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