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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bass — the fish
  3. cell — a phone
  4. spell — letters
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. band — a ring
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. band — a music group
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. spell — magic
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. snap — to click
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. cell — in biology
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. file — a tool
  24. spell — a short time

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