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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 your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. bowl — to roll
  3. file — a document
  4. last — finally
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. fine — high quality
  7. last — to go on
  8. rash — a series
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. season — of the year
  11. fine — all right
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. file — a line of people
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. season — in sport
  20. rash — hasty
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. last — final
  23. file — a tool
  24. temple — side of the head

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