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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. field — a subject
  4. game — a match
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. face — to point toward
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. field — farmland
  9. court — for sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. mark — a trace
  12. shower — rain
  13. hand — in cards
  14. court — of a king
  15. field — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. face — part of the head
  19. hand — help
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — wild animals
  22. face — to confront
  23. mark — a grade
  24. shower — to wash

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