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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. key — for a lock
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. tear — to rip
  8. key — the most important part
  9. staff — employees
  10. key — in music
  11. row — to paddle
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. march — the month
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. staff — employees
  19. staff — a stick
  20. cell — a phone
  21. tear — from crying
  22. row — a line
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — a quarrel

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