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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. bear — the animal
  5. swing — to play on
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. rush — hurry
  13. swing — in golf
  14. chair — a leader
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. swing — music
  18. capital — a city
  19. wound — an injury
  20. squash — to crush
  21. squash — the sport
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. wound — an injury
  24. capital — money

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