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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · kick · chair · chest · temple · tear · race · season

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. chest — a box
  5. season — of the year
  6. tear — to rip
  7. chest — of your body
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. chair — a leader
  13. pound — a weight
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kick — in football
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. season — in sport
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. race — humankind

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