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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. 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. date — the fruit
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wind — moving air
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. clip — a video
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — low music
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — a friend
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wind — moving air
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. 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