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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. fall — to drop
  3. can — to be able to
  4. ground — the earth
  5. file — a line of people
  6. track — to keep track
  7. fall — to drop
  8. race — humankind
  9. can — a tin
  10. track — a song
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. file — a tool
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cell — a phone
  15. track — a path
  16. race — the arms race
  17. file — a document
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fall — the season
  20. ground — a position
  21. cell — in biology
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. can — a tin
  24. race — a contest

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