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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. land — a country
  4. current — of water
  5. land — to come down
  6. court — of a king
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bound — obliged
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. kid — child
  14. court — for sport
  15. pit — a hole
  16. current — electric
  17. bound — certain
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. kid — to tease
  20. land — ground
  21. current — happening now
  22. court — of law
  23. pit — in a race
  24. bound — tied together

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