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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. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. press — newspapers
  3. club — a group
  4. spring — of water
  5. net — after costs
  6. spring — a coil
  7. net — for catching
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — to push
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. club — for dancing
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — final
  15. net — in sport
  16. hand — help
  17. club — for golf
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. degree — temperature
  20. hand — in cards
  21. spring — the season
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. last — finally

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