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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — wild animals
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. spring — the season
  15. fork — in a road
  16. mate — a partner
  17. capital — a city
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. row — to paddle
  20. mate — a friend
  21. spring — of water
  22. mate — to breed
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. game — a match

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