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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. land — to come down
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. row — a line
  8. land — a country
  9. row — to paddle
  10. kick — in football
  11. spring — a coil
  12. land — ground
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. chest — a box
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. chest — of your body
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. 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