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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. ground — a position
  3. net — in sport
  4. last — finally
  5. ground — the earth
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. net — after costs
  9. can — a tin
  10. mark — a trace
  11. branch — a division
  12. season — of the year
  13. ground — crushed
  14. net — for catching
  15. can — a tin
  16. last — final
  17. season — in sport
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. can — to be able to
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. last — to go on
  23. mark — a grade
  24. branch — of a tree

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