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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. net — in sport
  3. pit — in a race
  4. field — farmland
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — size or range
  7. field — a subject
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. pit — a hole
  10. hand — in cards
  11. field — for sport
  12. chair — a leader
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. net — for catching
  17. hand — help
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. foot — a measure
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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