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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: date · clip · stick · ball · wake · temple · rush · cold

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. clip — a video
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. ball — a great time
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. date — the fruit
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — for paper
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. wake — a trail
  16. ball — a dance
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. rush — hurry
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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