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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. fork — in a road
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cap — a lid
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. snap — to click
  12. prune — to trim
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. wind — moving air
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. wind — moving air
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. cap — of ice
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cap — a hat
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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