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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. craft — a skill
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. chest — a box
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. craft — boats
  10. cell — in biology
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. sharp — clever
  24. wake — a trail

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