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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: rest · cold · wound · pit · staff · chest · temple · drill

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. drill — army training
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pit — a hole
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rest — what's left
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pit — in a race
  19. wound — an injury
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. drill — a practice
  24. rest — a break

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