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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. current — happening now
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. current — of water
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. current — electric
  8. cap — a lid
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. cold — an illness
  12. squash — to crush
  13. spell — magic
  14. cold — not warm
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spell — a short time
  22. hand — help
  23. spell — letters
  24. hand — in cards

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