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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. band — a ring
  5. object — a thing
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. field — for sport
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. field — a subject
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cell — a phone
  17. object — an aim
  18. field — farmland
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. object — to protest
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — to eat
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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