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

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. kid — to tease
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. hand — help
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. hand — in cards
  11. kid — child
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. clip — to cut

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