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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. last — final
  5. board — to get on
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wax — to grow
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tear — from crying
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. last — finally
  13. shower — rain
  14. chest — of your body
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. ground — a position
  18. chest — a box
  19. board — a committee
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ground — the earth
  22. chest — of your body
  23. last — to go on
  24. board — a flat piece

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