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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. land — ground
  4. rest — what's left
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. toast — bread
  8. rest — what's left
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. branch — a division
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. land — a country
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — to cut
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. clip — for paper
  21. land — to come down
  22. cold — not warm
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — the Cold War

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