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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. march — the month
  5. root — of a word
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. root — the cause
  8. content — the amount
  9. wind — moving air
  10. root — of a plant
  11. bound — certain
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. bound — obliged
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. tear — from crying
  16. march — the month
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bound — tied together
  19. content — happy
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. march — music
  24. wind — moving air

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