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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. court — of a king
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — to cut
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. court — of law
  10. toast — bread
  11. object — a thing
  12. clip — a video
  13. object — an aim
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. object — to protest
  17. prune — to trim
  18. clip — for paper
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. court — for sport
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. cold — an illness
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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