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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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 — side of the head
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. ground — the earth
  5. file — a line of people
  6. rock — a stone
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. mug — a face
  11. sharp — clever
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — music
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. file — a document
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. mug — a cup
  22. lie — to recline
  23. file — a tool
  24. mug — to rob

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