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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. prune — to trim
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. stock — goods
  6. cold — an illness
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bore — to tire
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. bore — to drill
  13. stock — shares
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. prune — to trim
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. club — a group
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. club — for golf
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. club — for dancing

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