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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. last — to go on
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. foot — a measure
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. spell — magic
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. spell — a short time
  11. last — final
  12. game — wild animals
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spell — letters
  16. wound — an injury
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. game — a match
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. tube — the underground
  23. last — finally
  24. foot — the bottom

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