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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. prune — to trim
  3. court — of law
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. court — for sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chest — a box
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. chest — of your body
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. court — of a king
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. branch — a division
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. scale — for weighing

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