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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 · rash · pit · jam · clip · wound · pitch · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. clip — a video
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pit — a hole
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. rash — a series
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. pit — in a race
  24. cold — an illness

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