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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. cell — in biology
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. capital — a city
  9. perch — the fish
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. capital — money
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. fork — in a road
  19. track — a path
  20. wax — to grow
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. track — a song
  24. cell — a phone

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