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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. shower — rain
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. kid — to tease
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. fork — in a road
  10. scale — in music
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bound — certain
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. pit — in a race
  18. scale — size or range
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bound — obliged
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. pitch — completely
  24. bound — tied together

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