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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. spring — the season
  3. ground — a position
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. drill — the tool
  6. rash — a series
  7. spring — of water
  8. ground — crushed
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. race — humankind
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. race — the arms race
  13. drill — a practice
  14. mark — a grade
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rash — hasty
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mark — a trace
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. drill — army training
  21. race — a contest
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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