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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.

Make a worksheet

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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. last — final
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wound — an injury
  5. last — finally
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. last — to go on
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. wound — an injury
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. clip — a video
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. wave — with your hand

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