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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. game — wild animals
  3. root — of a word
  4. game — a match
  5. chest — a box
  6. present — the time now
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. field — for sport
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. present — a gift
  12. chest — of your body
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. field — farmland
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. stock — goods
  17. field — a subject
  18. chest — of your body
  19. root — of a plant
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. stock — shares
  22. present — there
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. root — the cause

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