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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. firm — steady
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. firm — decided
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a tool
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. firm — a company
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. file — a document
  18. wake — a trail

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