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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: bore · rest · temple · chest · last · scale · pitcher · hand

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. last — final
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hand — help
  6. rest — a break
  7. scale — size or range
  8. hand — in cards
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. scale — in music
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bore — to tire
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. rest — what's left
  19. last — to go on
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. last — finally
  24. rest — what's left

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