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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. last — to go on
  3. mine — for digging
  4. scale — in music
  5. cell — a phone
  6. net — for catching
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. last — final
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. lean — to bend
  14. net — after costs
  15. scale — size or range
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. tube — the underground
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. last — finally
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. lean — thin
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. net — in sport
  24. tube — a container

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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