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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pop — to visit
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. wound — an injury
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spell — a short time
  14. branch — a division
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pop — music
  17. spell — letters
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. mine — for digging
  20. pop — soda
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. spell — magic

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