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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: temple · squash · tear · stick · degree · craft · trunk · ball

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. squash — the sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. tear — from crying
  10. degree — temperature
  11. tear — from crying
  12. craft — boats
  13. ball — a great time
  14. degree — an amount
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. tear — to rip
  18. squash — to crush
  19. craft — a skill
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. ball — a dance
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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