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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. face — part of the head
  4. game — wild animals
  5. kid — child
  6. field — for sport
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. cell — a phone
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. face — to confront
  18. cell — in biology
  19. field — a subject
  20. game — a match
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. field — farmland
  24. face — to point toward

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