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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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 — to paddle
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. pass — a permit
  5. shower — to wash
  6. object — a thing
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. shower — rain
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. object — an aim
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. object — to protest
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. row — a line
  20. wake — a trail
  21. tear — from crying
  22. chest — a box
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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