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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mug — to rob
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. mug — a face
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. spring — of water
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. mug — a cup
  14. spring — the season
  15. degree — temperature
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bat — the animal
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — an amount

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