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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 120 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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a skill
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. race — a contest
  10. court — of law
  11. tube — the underground
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. court — for sport
  15. tube — a container
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. swing — to play on
  18. rash — hasty
  19. scale — in music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. scale — size or range
  22. race — humankind
  23. rash — a series
  24. court — of a king

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