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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wind — moving air
  3. squash — the sport
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to click
  6. wind — moving air
  7. current — of water
  8. saw — the tool
  9. current — electric
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. chest — of your body
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. squash — to crush
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. charge — in control
  18. charge — electricity
  19. saw — the tool
  20. charge — a price
  21. chest — of your body
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. chest — a box
  24. current — happening now

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