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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 120 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. season — in sport
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. rest — a break
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. file — a line of people
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. season — of the year
  16. chest — of your body
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. rest — what's left
  20. file — a document
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. file — a tool
  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