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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. stem — to come from
  3. drill — a practice
  4. file — a line of people
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. cue — a signal
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — of the year
  9. mate — a friend
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. cue — a hint
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. mate — a partner
  14. drill — the tool
  15. file — a tool
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. mate — to breed
  18. file — a document
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. cue — for pool
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. drill — army training

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