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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — a container
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. spell — magic
  6. snap — to click
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. craft — a skill
  9. spell — letters
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. spell — a short time
  17. hand — help
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. tube — the underground
  21. roll — a list
  22. hand — in cards
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a cake

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