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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: bay · cold · trunk · tube · temple · pitcher · rush · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. last — finally
  9. tube — the underground
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. rush — hurry
  13. tube — a container
  14. cold — an illness
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — to go on
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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