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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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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: pit · racket · arm · spell · lie · chest · temple · tube

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tube — the underground
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. chest — a box
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — letters
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pit — a hole
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. pit — in a race
  24. temple — a place of worship

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