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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chair — a leader
  5. tube — the underground
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — not warm
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. tube — a container
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. pass — a permit

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