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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. chest — of your body
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. row — to paddle
  6. shower — rain
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. chest — a box
  10. last — to go on
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bore — to tire
  13. last — final
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. shower — to wash
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. row — a line
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. last — finally
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. mouse — the animal

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