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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. kid — child
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. capital — money
  6. club — for golf
  7. capital — a city
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pass — a permit
  20. club — a group
  21. club — for dancing
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. capital — a big letter

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