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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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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: temple · wake · sharp · ruler · file · saw · bulb · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bulb — for light
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. file — a tool
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wake — a trail
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. cold — not warm
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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