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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. court — of a king
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. key — the most important part
  7. court — for sport
  8. key — for a lock
  9. court — of law
  10. drill — army training
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — the earth
  18. drill — a practice
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. drill — the tool
  22. key — in music
  23. ground — a position
  24. tear — to rip

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