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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. face — to confront
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. march — the month
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. march — the month
  14. swing — to play on
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. swing — in golf
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. face — part of the head
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. swing — music
  21. sharp — clever
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. march — music
  24. cold — not warm

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