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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. plane — a tool
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bound — certain
  10. tube — a container
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. hand — help
  13. bound — tied together
  14. scale — in music
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. bound — obliged
  18. scale — size or range
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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