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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: ground · cold · game · lash · temple · straw · rock · roll

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. game — a match
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. roll — a list
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ground — a position
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. rock — a stone
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. roll — a cake
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. ground — the earth

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