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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wound — an injury
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wound — an injury
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. ball — a dance
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bat — the animal
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a great time
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. last — finally
  16. last — final
  17. scale — in music
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. last — to go on
  20. scale — size or range
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. content — the amount
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. content — happy

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