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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: file · temple · chair · kick · key · wind · swing · toast

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. swing — to play on
  6. kick — in football
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. chair — a leader
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. wind — moving air
  13. key — the most important part
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — in golf
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. file — a tool
  19. toast — bread
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. key — for a lock
  23. key — in music
  24. swing — music

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