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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rest — what's left
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chest — of your body
  7. net — after costs
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. chest — of your body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. spring — of water
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to click
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — the season
  17. kid — child
  18. net — in sport
  19. rest — what's left
  20. dip — to sink
  21. chest — a box
  22. rest — a break
  23. net — for catching
  24. dip — a sauce

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