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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: content · wax · nail · bat · fall · cold · mark · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. mark — a grade
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fall — the season
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. content — the amount
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. content — happy
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. mark — a trace
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. fall — to drop

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