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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. field — a subject
  7. land — ground
  8. field — farmland
  9. tear — from crying
  10. field — for sport
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. chest — a box
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. chest — of your body
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. land — to come down
  20. chair — a leader
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. bear — the animal
  23. tear — to rip
  24. land — a country

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