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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. kid — child
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wind — moving air
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pitch — completely
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bat — the animal
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. wind — moving air
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — in music
  21. key — the most important part
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. perch — the fish

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