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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. dip — to sink
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. content — happy
  6. wound — an injury
  7. content — the amount
  8. chest — of your body
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. pop — to visit
  11. land — to come down
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. land — ground
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. land — a country
  18. chest — a box
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pop — soda
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pop — music
  24. cabinet — ministers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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