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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. mate — a partner
  3. toast — bread
  4. fine — high quality
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. fine — all right
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. spring — the season
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — a law
  13. file — a line of people
  14. mate — a friend
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. mate — to breed
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spring — a coil

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