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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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. staff — a stick
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. deal — to handle
  6. capital — a city
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. spell — a short time
  9. capital — money
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. spell — letters
  16. staff — employees
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. spell — magic
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. staff — employees
  23. sharp — clever
  24. mouse — the animal

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