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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 120 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. snap — to click
  3. saw — the tool
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. prune — to trim
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. prune — to trim
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. cold — an illness
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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