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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bound — certain
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. row — a line
  8. degree — an amount
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chest — of your body
  12. saw — the tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. saw — the tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. lean — to bend
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. lean — thin
  19. bound — tied together
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bound — obliged
  24. row — to paddle

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