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

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mug — a cup
  7. cap — a lid
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. mug — to rob
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — a stone
  16. cap — of ice
  17. mug — a face
  18. cap — a hat

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