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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. fall — to drop
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. deal — to handle
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. shower — rain
  13. chair — a leader
  14. fall — to drop
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. squash — the sport
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pitch — completely
  21. shower — to wash
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. fall — the season
  24. squash — to crush

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