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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 university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. degree — temperature
  5. swing — to play on
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. content — happy
  8. swing — music
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. march — the month
  11. content — the amount
  12. march — the month
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to confront
  19. degree — an amount
  20. swing — in golf
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. march — music
  23. fork — in a road
  24. face — to point toward

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