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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. sharp — clever
  3. season — of the year
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. swing — to play on
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. season — in sport
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. capital — money
  14. swing — music
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. bark — to shout
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — a city
  19. swing — in golf
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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