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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. kid — child
  7. staff — employees
  8. date — the fruit
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. staff — a stick
  12. mine — for digging
  13. shower — rain
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. court — for sport
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. kid — to tease
  18. shower — to wash
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — size or range
  21. court — of law
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. staff — employees
  24. court — of a king

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