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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. hand — help
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. land — to come down
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. spell — a short time
  8. rash — hasty
  9. hand — in cards
  10. rash — a series
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spell — letters
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. degree — an amount
  15. mark — a grade
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. degree — temperature
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. land — a country
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. spell — magic
  23. mark — a trace
  24. ruler — a monarch

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