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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. chest — of your body
  3. drill — a practice
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. squash — the sport
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — to grow
  9. chest — of your body
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mine — for digging
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — the tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. tear — to rip
  18. court — of a king
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. squash — to crush
  21. court — of law
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. court — for sport
  24. wax — for sculpting

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