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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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. current — happening now
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. current — of water
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. can — to be able to
  11. rest — a break
  12. can — a tin
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. kid — child
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rest — what's left
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rest — what's left
  23. can — a tin
  24. current — electric

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