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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: pound · rest · temple · cell · trunk · cold · lie · content

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. lie — to recline
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cell — in biology
  6. content — happy
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pound — a weight
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. rest — what's left
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. content — the amount
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. rest — a break
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. rest — what's left
  24. trunk — of a tree

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