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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. face — to confront
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. field — for sport
  7. chest — of your body
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. chest — a box
  10. field — a subject
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. prune — to trim
  13. field — farmland
  14. stock — goods
  15. prune — to trim
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. stock — shares
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — of ice
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cap — a hat

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