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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. branch — a division
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — final
  5. drill — army training
  6. chest — of your body
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. drill — a practice
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. chest — of your body
  11. drill — the tool
  12. last — finally
  13. kid — child
  14. fine — all right
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kid — to tease
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. chest — a box
  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