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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. net — for catching
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. content — the amount
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. net — in sport
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. shower — to wash
  14. net — after costs
  15. content — happy
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. nail — for a hammer

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