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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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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: club · temple · cold · drill · pit · rash · deal · field

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. rash — hasty
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. field — farmland
  6. club — for dancing
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. drill — army training
  9. field — a subject
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. cold — an illness
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pit — in a race
  18. drill — a practice
  19. pit — a hole
  20. field — for sport
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. cold — not warm
  23. deal — to handle
  24. rash — a series

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