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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: saw · wave · date · swing · kid · court · file · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. court — of a king
  3. file — a tool
  4. swing — to play on
  5. saw — the tool
  6. date — the fruit
  7. file — a document
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. swing — music
  10. court — for sport
  11. swing — in golf
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. court — of law
  16. saw — the tool
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. kid — to tease
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. kid — child
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. file — a line of people
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — side of the head

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