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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 a fun ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. game — a match
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. field — a subject
  7. rock — music
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. cell — in biology
  10. lie — to recline
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. fall — the season
  13. sharp — clever
  14. fall — to drop
  15. field — farmland
  16. cell — a phone
  17. fall — to drop
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. field — for sport
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rock — a stone
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. game — a kind of play

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