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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 120 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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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: coach · temple · cold · wind · spell · rule · kid · object

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. wind — moving air
  7. object — to protest
  8. rule — government
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cold — not warm
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. object — a thing
  13. kid — child
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rule — a law
  16. object — an aim
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. spell — letters
  22. cold — an illness
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. coach — a trainer

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