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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. lie — to recline
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — the underground
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. charge — in control
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — in football
  10. tube — a container
  11. charge — a price
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. sharp — clever
  19. charge — electricity
  20. file — a document
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. lie — an untruth

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