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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 120 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. swing — to play on
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. branch — a division
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. sharp — clever
  12. cell — a phone
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cell — in biology
  16. tear — from crying
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. wound — an injury
  19. swing — music
  20. wound — an injury
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. race — the arms race
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. branch — of a tree

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