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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. season — of the year
  3. deal — to handle
  4. clip — to cut
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. capital — money
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — a video
  17. capital — a city
  18. tube — the underground
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. wax — to grow
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. tube — a container
  23. season — in sport
  24. deal — an agreement

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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