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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. saw — the tool
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fork — in a road
  16. saw — the tool
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cell — a phone
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — of a plant

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