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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rush — hurry
  3. face — to confront
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. net — after costs
  7. last — to go on
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. net — for catching
  11. file — a tool
  12. last — final
  13. face — part of the head
  14. press — newspapers
  15. march — the month
  16. press — to push
  17. face — to point toward
  18. net — in sport
  19. file — a document
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. press — a publisher
  24. last — finally

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