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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. squash — to crush
  6. prune — to trim
  7. file — a document
  8. scale — size or range
  9. track — a path
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. row — to paddle
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. file — a tool
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. track — a song
  16. perch — the fish
  17. prune — to trim
  18. row — a line
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. file — a line of people
  21. scale — in music
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. track — to keep track
  24. squash — the sport

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