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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. We're almost out 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. temple — side of the head
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — humankind
  9. bass — low music
  10. scale — size or range
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pop — music
  14. fork — in a road
  15. chest — of your body
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. pop — to visit
  18. kick — in football
  19. bass — the fish
  20. race — the arms race
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. scale — in music
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. pop — soda

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