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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: rush · hide · chip · temple · mine · degree · cold · kid

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rush — hurry
  5. chip — to eat
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. mine — for digging
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chip — for betting
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. degree — from a university
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. temple — a place of worship

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