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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. land — a country
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. chair — a leader
  7. dip — to sink
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kid — to tease
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — ground
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. rock — a stone
  20. kid — child
  21. land — to come down
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rock — to move gently

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