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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: cold · staff · temple · fine · can · spring · ground · fall

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fall — to drop
  4. spring — of water
  5. fall — the season
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. staff — employees
  8. spring — the season
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. can — a tin
  11. ground — a position
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. fall — to drop
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — crushed
  18. can — a tin
  19. staff — a stick
  20. can — to be able to
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — an illness
  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