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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 I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. snap — to click
  3. file — a line of people
  4. face — to confront
  5. wind — moving air
  6. face — part of the head
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. current — happening now
  10. roll — a cake
  11. face — to point toward
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. current — of water
  15. roll — a list
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. file — a tool
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. current — electric
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. wind — moving air
  22. file — a document
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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