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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: temple · charge · race · club · bat · straw · cold · cap

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. charge — electricity
  5. cold — an illness
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. race — the arms race
  8. charge — in control
  9. cap — a lid
  10. charge — a price
  11. club — for dancing
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — a contest
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. club — a group
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bat — the animal
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. club — for golf
  22. cap — a hat
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. cold — the Cold War

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