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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cell — in biology
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. rest — a break
  10. tear — from crying
  11. game — wild animals
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. rest — what's left
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. game — a match
  17. chest — a box
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. chest — of your body
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. rest — what's left

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