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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. field — for sport
  4. charge — electricity
  5. charge — a price
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bound — tied together
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. field — a subject
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. field — farmland
  17. charge — in control
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. bound — certain
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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