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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was 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. game — a match
  3. mate — to breed
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mate — a partner
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mate — a friend
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. bat — the animal
  18. plane — a tool
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. kid — child

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