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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  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. ruler — a monarch
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. spring — the season
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. mine — for digging
  10. band — a music group
  11. rash — hasty
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. spring — of water
  19. band — a ring
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rash — a series
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. wave — of the sea
  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