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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. race — a contest
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. mine — for digging
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — humankind
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. sharp — clever
  17. fall — to drop
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fall — to drop
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. fall — the season
  23. branch — a division
  24. cell — in biology

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