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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pit — a hole
  6. craft — a skill
  7. pit — in a race
  8. craft — boats
  9. bark — to shout
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bass — low music
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bass — the fish
  14. spring — of water
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — completely
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. spring — the season

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