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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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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 · temple · fan · rest · chest · pop · straw · root

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pop — soda
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — music
  6. chest — a box
  7. root — of a plant
  8. bore — to drill
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. rest — what's left
  15. bore — to tire
  16. root — the cause
  17. rest — a break
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. root — of a word
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. rest — what's left
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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