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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wind — moving air
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mate — a friend
  5. spring — a coil
  6. mate — to breed
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. court — of a king
  12. mate — a partner
  13. spring — of water
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — clever
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. court — for sport
  18. roll — a cake
  19. wind — moving air
  20. spring — the season
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. roll — a list
  23. court — of law
  24. perch — for a bird

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