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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. chest — a box
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. club — for dancing
  7. game — a match
  8. staff — a stick
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. spell — magic
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. fall — the season
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. staff — employees
  15. fall — to drop
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. club — for golf
  18. club — a group
  19. fall — to drop
  20. spell — a short time
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — wild animals
  23. chest — of your body
  24. staff — employees

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