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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 120 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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. can — to be able to
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. court — of law
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. can — a tin
  10. chest — of your body
  11. march — music
  12. court — for sport
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. row — a line
  18. march — the month
  19. can — a tin
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. court — of a king
  23. march — the month
  24. row — to paddle

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