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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wind — moving air
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. stand — to bear
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bass — low music
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bass — the fish
  24. pitcher — a jug

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