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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bound — obliged
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. shower — rain
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — for golf
  7. chest — of your body
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bound — certain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bound — tied together
  14. chest — a box
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. tear — from crying
  17. game — a match
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. game — wild animals
  21. tear — to rip
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. shower — to wash
  24. club — a group

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