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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. tube — a container
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. net — after costs
  5. season — in sport
  6. net — in sport
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. row — to paddle
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. court — of a king
  14. lean — thin
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. season — of the year
  19. court — for sport
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. lean — to bend
  22. row — a line
  23. net — for catching
  24. court — of law

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