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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. degree — from a university
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. present — a gift
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. present — the time now
  12. field — farmland
  13. present — there
  14. wound — an injury
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. squash — to crush
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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