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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. land — a country
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rest — a break
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. land — ground
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. land — to come down
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. spring — of water
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. rest — what's left
  21. spring — the season
  22. rush — hurry
  23. wax — to grow
  24. temple — side of the head

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