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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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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: board · roll · lash · branch · snap · sharp · cold · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. board — to get on
  3. roll — a cake
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. board — a committee
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. cold — not warm
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. cold — an illness
  18. sharp — clever
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. snap — to click
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. roll — a list
  24. board — a flat piece

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