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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. content — happy
  6. rush — hurry
  7. chest — of your body
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. chest — of your body
  10. mate — to breed
  11. sharp — clever
  12. chest — a box
  13. tear — to rip
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. mate — a friend
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — to tease
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mate — a partner
  22. tear — from crying
  23. content — the amount
  24. temple — a place of worship

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