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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rash — a series
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. rash — hasty
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. shower — to wash
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. pop — music
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. degree — temperature
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. shower — rain
  19. capital — a city
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — soda
  22. lie — to recline
  23. capital — money
  24. temple — side of the head

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