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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. drill — the tool
  5. kid — to tease
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. ground — a position
  8. pit — in a race
  9. ground — crushed
  10. drill — a practice
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. march — the month
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of law
  20. drill — army training
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. pit — a hole
  24. court — of a king

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