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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — a video
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rule — a law
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bat — the animal
  13. prune — to trim
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. rule — government
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. vault — a safe
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. clip — to cut
  20. deal — to handle
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. clip — for paper

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