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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: press · drill · craft · court · cold · cell · temple · bound

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. court — for sport
  7. press — to push
  8. drill — army training
  9. cold — an illness
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bound — tied together
  12. cell — a phone
  13. court — of law
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bound — certain
  17. press — a publisher
  18. craft — boats
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. press — newspapers
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. court — of a king

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