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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. drill — army training
  9. drill — the tool
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. chest — a box
  12. pass — a permit
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kick — in football
  16. rush — hurry
  17. drill — a practice
  18. hand — help
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. hand — in cards
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. kick — a thrill

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