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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. drill — the tool
  4. track — to keep track
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pound — a weight
  7. track — a song
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — army training
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. track — a path
  12. wind — moving air
  13. last — finally
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. last — to go on
  16. saw — the tool
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. saw — the tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. last — final
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. wind — to turn a key

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