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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rash — hasty
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. field — for sport
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cap — a hat
  7. file — a line of people
  8. net — for catching
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — in sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cap — of ice
  15. field — farmland
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. file — a tool
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rash — a series
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. file — a document

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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