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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. tear — to rip
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. ground — a position
  5. cell — in biology
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. drill — army training
  10. tear — from crying
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cell — a phone
  13. capital — a city
  14. tear — from crying
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. ground — crushed
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. chest — a box
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. ground — the earth
  24. chest — of your body

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