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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 124 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bank — for money
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tear — from crying
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — not warm
  14. board — a committee
  15. kid — child
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. tear — to rip
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bank — for money
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bank — of a river
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. board — to get on

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