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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. scale — in music
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. key — for a lock
  6. pit — a hole
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. key — the most important part
  10. fall — to drop
  11. key — in music
  12. mate — a partner
  13. pit — in a race
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. mate — to breed
  17. scale — size or range
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. fall — to drop
  23. mate — a friend
  24. fall — the season

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