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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  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. chest — of your body
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a partner
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. chest — of your body
  11. file — a tool
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. file — a document
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. chest — a box
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. mate — a friend
  19. sharp — clever
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. file — a line of people
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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