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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. game — wild animals
  3. present — there
  4. stem — to come from
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. club — for dancing
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. present — the time now
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. club — for golf
  12. present — a gift
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. game — a match
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. club — a group

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