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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. hand — help
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chair — a leader
  9. season — of the year
  10. chest — of your body
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. prune — to trim
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. root — of a word
  15. root — the cause
  16. chest — a box
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. scale — in music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. root — of a plant
  23. scale — size or range
  24. temple — side of the head

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