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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. press — to push
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. pit — a hole
  5. kid — child
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. press — a publisher
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. roll — a cake
  10. pit — in a race
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — tied together
  15. fork — in a road
  16. branch — a division
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. press — newspapers
  19. roll — a list
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bound — obliged
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — side of the head

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