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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: fan · rash · band · temple · bat · roll · cold · firm

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. firm — a company
  3. firm — steady
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. band — a music group
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — a cake
  18. band — a ring
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — a series
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. fan — a supporter

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