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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pound — a weight
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. net — after costs
  6. chest — a box
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. track — a song
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. net — for catching
  12. sharp — clever
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. tear — to rip
  15. track — a path
  16. track — to keep track
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — magic
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tear — from crying
  22. chest — of your body
  23. spell — letters
  24. net — in 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