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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cell — in biology
  4. row — a line
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. row — to paddle
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. chair — a leader
  9. cell — a phone
  10. sharp — clever
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — size or range
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. tear — to rip
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. scale — in music
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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