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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: bay · kid · file · safe · tear · track · rock · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. file — a document
  3. kid — child
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. kid — to tease
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rock — a stone
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. tear — from crying
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. file — a tool
  16. track — to keep track
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rock — music
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. file — a line of people

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