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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wound — an injury
  13. spring — the season
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — a weight
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. fine — high quality
  23. fine — all right
  24. spring — of water

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