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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. board — a committee
  5. board — to get on
  6. field — farmland
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pound — a weight
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. field — for sport
  11. chest — of your body
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. court — for sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. chest — a box
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. field — a subject
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. court — of law
  24. court — of a king

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