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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. last — finally
  5. march — music
  6. deal — to handle
  7. march — the month
  8. net — for catching
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. shower — rain
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. chest — of your body
  16. last — to go on
  17. chest — of your body
  18. shower — to wash
  19. last — final
  20. march — the month
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — after costs
  23. bat — the animal
  24. chest — a box

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