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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. mug — a cup
  5. hand — in cards
  6. row — a line
  7. staff — employees
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. current — of water
  10. current — happening now
  11. row — to paddle
  12. hand — help
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. mug — a face
  19. mug — to rob
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. current — electric
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. row — a quarrel

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