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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. chest — a box
  3. fall — to drop
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. file — a document
  8. fall — the season
  9. net — in sport
  10. fall — to drop
  11. net — after costs
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bass — the fish
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. net — for catching
  18. chest — of your body
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. dip — to sink
  22. bass — low music
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. wake — a trail

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