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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. prune — to trim
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. court — of law
  8. staff — employees
  9. prune — to trim
  10. staff — employees
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. fine — high quality
  14. last — final
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. last — to go on
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. fine — all right
  19. court — for sport
  20. branch — a division
  21. court — of a king
  22. last — finally
  23. staff — a stick
  24. kid — child

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