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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. tear — from crying
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. field — a subject
  5. file — a line of people
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. tear — to rip
  9. spell — letters
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. spell — a short time
  12. file — a tool
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. tear — from crying
  15. field — for sport
  16. file — a document
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. branch — a division
  19. spell — magic
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. vault — a safe
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. field — farmland
  24. branch — of a tree

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